Player Ratings: Manchester United 1-1 Fulham AET (3-4 on penalties)

Just one of the great Fulham days. After over two hours of torture watching a scrappy game lacking quality and rhythm play out, the Whites produced a couple of moments of magic in front of the Stretford End in an ultimately joyous penalty shootout. Crystal Palace at the Cottage in four weeks’ time separate Fulham from a rare trip to Wembley Stadium for an even rarer FA Cup semi final…

Bernd Leno

Perhaps Leno’s crowning moment in a Fulham shirt, as he was the hero of the hour in the penalty shootout, saving spot kicks from the feet of Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee. The £3m (raising to eight) paid for the German keeper is undoubtedly proving to be one of the great Fulham bargains of the 21st century. In the 120 minutes of play, Leno punched and parried well, looked composed with his feet, and towards the final stages of normal time and into extra time made a number of extraordinary saves to ensure Fulham made it to penalties, including from Alejandro Garnacho and multiple from the lively teenage Dane, Chido Obi. 8.5/10

Timothy Castagne

For the first half of normal time I felt nothing but frustration watching Castagne because my normal issue of him not attacking enough was more prominently obvious when the opportunity to double up on United’s wing backs was so clearly there. However, the longer the game went on, the more the value of his defensive work made up for that. When Garnacho came on he posed a huge threat, but Castagne did well to continuously push the Argentine wide and make a number of interceptions as United went over the top into that channel of play. 7.5/10

Joachim Andersen

Another player that I had slight worries over early days because every time Rasmus Hojlund was played in over the top he massively had the pace advantage over our Dane, but Andersen’s defensive ability to outdo United’s number nine in most duels once he’d recovered and got back into position was superb. Joa was utterly superb in the air in the second half and in extra time, potentially putting in his best performance of the season overall. 7.5/10

Calvin Bassey

A gargantuan showing from Bassey, who despite his hilarious dancing antics both after his goal and the penalty shootout, showed composure beyond his years on the big occasion. You want to put so much effort into praising everything he did in this game that you could be forgiven for forgetting he even opened the scoring on the brink of half time with a delicately flicked header that went beyond Andre Onana.

Every single time the ball came near our box he didn’t even need to clear the ball long or do anything erratically,  he just strolled round the backline as if nobody was there to press him. Even into extra time with so many minutes in the legs, he cleaned up everything and remained prominent in pushing into midfield to push Fulham forwards and build attacking momentum. For me, his best game in the black and white. 9/10. – Man of the Match

Antonee Robinson

I get genuinely funny comments on here about needing to cheer up simply for critiquing anyone after a Fulham win, but truly, Robinson wasn’t amazing today. Defensively he wasn’t too bad, and of course that’s his main role. But going forward I lost count of how many times he tripped over his own feet with the ball, and the level of crossing was strangely poor. His penalty in the shootout took guts and it was an absolutely superb penalty at that, but I remain stubborn in not giving everyone high marks just because the team won, I thought Robinson was ‘meh’ at best here. 6/10

Sander Berge

I’m running out of superlatives for how outrageously well Berge is able to hold onto the ball in any given scenario. There was times where the play from both sides was so frantic in the middle of the park but Berge made it look so easy to just resist the temptation to throw the ball away or play it down a blind alley. Twenty million for a player in the middle of the park that fills you with complete calmness for 120 minutes of play and then blasts a penalty kick into the top corner in a nervy shootout is an absolute bargain in my book. 8.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Interesting to assess the way Lukic plays when he’s next to Berge. Not only does he do a lot of the leg work in midfield as Berge strolls around at the base, but it also allows him a tad more freedom to push into more advanced positions. I thought the ground he covered was insane here, moving from left to right across the midfield to offer support to Castagne and Robinson as United tried to penetrate wide areas. However, I still want more from him going forward. There is no risk taking in his game at all, which isn’t always a negative, granted. His missed header on 38 minutes from close range, thankfully, didn’t mean much in the end. 7/10

Adama Traore

I think it must have been set-up related, but Adama just seemed so ineffective that you have to assume he had been told to play a certain way? He refused to track back, seemingly didn’t fancy ever taking a man on or making a direct run down his wing, and rarely showed for the ball at all. No idea what he was supposed to be doing in our setup, but it wasn’t working. As long as the injury isn’t a bad one, him coming off was probably for the best. 5/10

Andreas Pereira

Thought the Brazilian was sublime on his return to Old Trafford. The directness he showed in a scrappy first half, to frequently take the ball on the half turn and push Fulham from the halfway line to the edge of Man United’s area was superb. The intensity of his press for a full 90 minutes or more, when he often comes off knackered after 70 these days, was utterly immense. His corner for the opener was a peach, something I wish we’d seen more of this season. Finally, he seems to be finding some form again. 8/10

Alex Iwobi

Wasn’t totally impressed, to be honest. My hope was after some well-earned rest from Premier League duties that he’d be really sharp, but then he dribbled the ball out for a throw in about five minutes in. Spent a lot of time drifting inside to more central areas to vacate space for Robinson on that flank, but then rarely linked up with the American in possession. Frequently looked reluctant to take his man on in the second half when the ball kept coming to him too, which was just very unlike the Nigerian. 6/10

Rodrigo Muniz

Considering the lack of actual service he received in the area, I was mightily impressed with Muniz. So much has been said of his strengths in playing with his back to goal, and the way he won so much in the air against a tall, physical back three of Maguire, De Ligt and Yoro, and held onto it to bring others into play, was superb. His header back across the box to set up our goal was the cherry on top of a performance that showed what a superb team player Rodrigo is. 7/10

Substitutes

Emile Smith Rowe (51’ for Traore)

It’s just beyond frustrating watching him at the minute. Sometimes you see the first touches he pulls off and you understand the reputation and the price tag, but then what comes after that convinces you that he’s simply not worth his place in the side. A player who looks to completely lack rhythm and confidence right now. 5.5/10

Willian (90+2’ for Pereira)

Another who I thought had a really poor cameo. I’d been crying out for Willian to come on to make the most of his big-game experience and wisdom out wide but all of it seemed missing. He showed no conviction in anything (other than his spot kick, thankfully), and frequently slowed our counter attacks down in extra time. 5.5/10

Raul Jimenez (90+2 for Muniz)

Not as much to be negative about with Raul. He chased every ball down the channels, pressed high when United tried to play through Onana and linked play well as Muniz had before him. To step up to take such a good first penalty at the Stretford End set a really important tone for the remainder of the shootout, in my opinion, and deserves praise. 6.5/10

Normally I wouldn’t give much attention to Harrison Reed (103’ for Lukic) and Ryan Sessegnon (107’ for Iwobi) because of the lack of minutes to judge them from. While I won’t rate them, it would be remiss of me to not comment on how well they did to constantly bomb down the right wing in the second period of extra time to push us forward, and quite frankly Sessegnon in particular could have won us the game before penalties were required on another day.

Manager

As has become a theme, I never know how to judge Silva when we win but haven’t played incredibly well. It felt so strange to me how poor we were out wide. Iwobi and Robinson never linked up, Castagne never even tried to double up down the left and the way Adama was ‘utilised’ was completely baffling. The single sub being made in the actual 90 minutes felt so weird in a game that was completely there to be won before extra time if only for a bit of proactivity. Ultimately, we did win, and the penalty takers were chosen perfectly, but it felt like this had to be far less frantic and stressful than the gaffer allowed it to be, so I can’t be overly full of praise for him, as much as I’m completely in love with him after tonight! 6/10