Fulham 1 Sunderland 1
A moment of individual brilliance from Fulham’s Tom Cairney salvaged a draw with Championship opponents Sunderland in this FA Cup fourth round tie, setting up a replay at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland couldn’t have asked for a better start, as they took the lead in the sixth minute after Fulham’s backline was caught playing around with the ball. Jack Clarke would have hardly been able to believe his luck, as he dispossessed Issa Diop before bearing down on goal and slotting past Marek Rodak.
Far from sitting back, the visitors continued their high-flying start, with Amad Diallo in particular looking the most dangerous to the Cottagers’ defence. But their afternoon took a major blow around midway through the first half, as top scorer Ross Stewart had to be stretchered off with what looked like a serious ankle injury.
Fulham then began to dominate possession, and Andreas Pereira had their best chance of the half with a volley from inside the box that looked destined to nestle in the bottom corner. A packed away section held its breath – but Daniel Ballard somehow managed to block the ball on the goaline, deflecting it onto his goalkeeper and away to safety, ensuring the Black Cats would go into half-time with their one-goal lead intact.
Marco Silva’s men continued dictating play in the second half, and upped the ante even further as they went searching for an equaliser. And Harry Wilson should have been the one to level the scores, but found himself denied by Anthony Patterson when through on goal.
However, the tie was eventually levelled on the hour mark through Cairney instead, as he showed incredible composure in the box to twist in and out of two defenders before slotting the ball past Patterson.
The equaliser deflated the visitors, and it was one-way traffic for the remainder of this entertaining fourth round tie.
Despite being on the back foot for the remaining 30 minutes, Sunderland thought they had stunned their opposition with a 92nd-minute winning goal, but 15-year-old Christopher Rigg’s dream goal was ruled out for offside, setting up a cup replay.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Tom Cairney (Fulham)
Elsewhere in the FA Cup
Southampton were the only Premier League side to progress into the Fifth Round outright with a 2-1 victory over Blackpool. Perraud scored both goals for the Saints with a first-half free-kick and a strike in the second period at St Mary's. The visitors did get a goal back 11 minutes from time through Charlie Patino, but the home side held on to book their spot in the next round.
There were two all-Championship ties on Saturday afternoon, with Bristol City beating West Brom 3-0 as Samuel Bell netted twice for the Robins. In the other encounter, Blackburn Rovers and Birmigham City were unable to separated in a 2-2 draw - the Blues were indebted to Jordan James, who came off the bench to net a 91st minute equaliser and send the tie to a replay.
The other three ties also finished in draws, check out all the scores from the fourth round with Flashscore.
