Fulham battled for a replay as they avoided an FA Cup fourth-round defeat at home to Championship play-off hopefuls Sunderland.
Jack Clarke’s early goal fired a young Black Cats side to a memorable win in west London, with the winger calmly slotting home Issa Diop’s ball before slotting his effort past home goalkeeper Marek Roddick. took advantage of the error.
However, the hosts, who enjoyed most of the possession, leveled things just after the hour mark, brilliantly fending off two challenges before captain Tom Cairney slotted home in the left corner.
In a dramatic result, 15-year-old Chris Rigg scored the winner for the visitors but Abdullah Ba’s goal was ruled out for offside, while Willian’s effort was ruled out for the hosts.
Sunderland looked capable of reaching the last 16 of the competition for the first time since 2015 – when they were a top-flight club – for most of the competition.
However, the draw was probably a fair reflection of an end-to-end contest that saw both sides create some excellent goal-scoring opportunities.
Also honored in throwback case
While Fulham made seven changes to their starting line-up, they still showed plenty of fluidity with the ball – although lacked finishing ability when it mattered.
Tosin Adarabioyo headed over from five yards and Harry Wilson spent most of the afternoon in a one-on-one battle with Anthony Pietersen, denied by the Sunderland goalkeeper on four occasions.
Andreas Pereira’s volley was brilliantly cleared off the line by visiting defender Dan Ballard and it looked like it might end as a frustrating afternoon until Cairney’s contrived intervention.
Aleksandar Mitrovic went close after coming on and fellow substitute Willian saw off a quick effort with practically the final kick of a frantic clash.
“It was a normal FA Cup match,” said Fulham manager Marco Silva. “It was too open for the manager to like and we scored too early. We created a lot of chances but gave them more chances than we liked”.
Sunderland played their part in what felt like a throwback match, with both sides showing little caution in chasing goals.
Imad Diallo and the influential Patrick Roberts appeared in a typically Tony Mowbray side that featured seven players aged 22 or under at kick-off.
A brilliant Roberts run down the right sent Dilo driving a close-range effort wide and the on-loan Manchester United winger forced Roddick into two fine saves early in the second period before Fulham equalised.
Pierre Acquah and Roberts both had chances late on and the only major disappointment for Mowbray was the first-half loss of their injured top scorer Ross Stewart, who went off on a stretcher with a suspected Achilles injury.
“A team of kids came up to a team who are flying in the Premier League and gave a good account of themselves,” Mowbray said.
“I’m proud. They beat Chelsea here a few weeks ago. Our number nine went. If Ross [Stewart] had been on the pitch, there’s a good chance he would have had some of those chances and finished them off. Dita. We created some amazing opportunities.”
