Fulham fought back to earn a replay by avoiding a shock FA Cup fourth round defeat at home to Championship play-off hopefuls Sunderland.
Jack Clarke’s opening goal appeared to have put a young Black Cats side on the path to a memorable win in west London, with the winger capitalizing on Issa Diop’s mistake to win the ball before calmly placing his effort past home goalkeeper Marek Rodak.
However, the hosts, who enjoyed the majority of possession, leveled things just after the hour mark with captain Tom Cairney superbly avoiding two challenges before taking his place in the left corner.
In a dramatic conclusion, 15-year-old Chris Rigg appeared to have scored the winner for the visitors but his goal was ruled out with Abdullah Ba offside in the build-up, while Willian’s effort for the hosts was knocked down.
Sunderland had looked capable of reaching the competition’s last 16 for the first time since 2015 – when they were a top-flight club – for much of the contest.
However, a draw was likely a true reflection of an end-to-end encounter which saw both teams create excellent goalscoring opportunities.
Honors even in a comeback case
While Fulham have made seven changes to their starting line-up, they have always shown plenty of fluidity with the ball – albeit a lack of finishing prowess when it mattered.
Tosin Adarabioyo passed five yards and Harry Wilson spent much of the afternoon engaged in a personal duel with Anthony Patterson, the Sunderland keeper having denied him four times.
Andreas Pereira’s volley was brilliantly cleared off the line by visiting defender Dan Ballard and it looked like it could end as a frustrating afternoon until Cairney calmly intervened.
Aleksandar Mitrovic went close after coming on and fellow substitute Willian saw a sparkling effort topple over with virtually the final kick of a frenzied encounter.
“It was a typical FA Cup match,” said Fulham manager Marco Silva. “It was too open for a coach to like it and we scored a goal too early. We created enough chances to score but gave them more chances than we would like.”
Sunderland more than played their part in what looked like a comeback game, with both sides appearing to exercise little caution as they chased their goals.
Amad Diallo and the influential Patrick Roberts generally came out on top for Tony Mowbray’s side which had seven players aged 22 or younger at kick-off.
A superb run from Roberts down the right ended with Diallo driving an effort close to the wide post and the on-loan Manchester United winger also forced Rodak into two fine saves early in the second half before Fulham equalized.
Pierre Ekwah and Roberts both had late chances and the only big disappointment for Mowbray was the first-half loss of their injured top scorer Ross Stewart, who was stretched with a suspected Achilles tendon injury.
“A team of children came to a team that flew in the Premier League and gave a good image of themselves,” said Mowbray.
“I’m proud. They beat Chelsea here a few weeks ago. Our number nine is gone. If Ross [Stewart] stayed in the field, chances are some of those chances fell on him and he ended them. We created incredible chances.”
