Fulham fight back to earn Sunderland replay

3 years ago 46

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By Steve SutcliffeBBC Sport

Last updated on 14 minutes ago.From the section FA Cup

Fulham fought back to earn a replay as they avoided a shock FA Cup fourth-round defeat at home to Championship play-off hopefuls Sunderland.

Jack Clarke's early goal looked to have put a youthful Black Cats side on course for a memorable win in west London, with the winger capitalising 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, levelled things up just after the hour mark with captain Tom Cairney superbly evading two challenges before picking his spot in the left corner.

Until that point, Sunderland had looked more than capable of reaching the last 16 of the competition for the first time since 2015, when they were a top-flight club.

But on the balance of play a draw was probably a fair reflection of an end-to-end encounter which saw both sides create some glorious goalscoring opportunities.

In a dramatic conclusion, 15-year-old Chris Rigg looked to have scored the winner for the visitors but his goal was ruled out with Jewison Bennette off-side in the build-up.

More to follow.

Follow all Saturday's FA Cup action

Line-ups

Fulham

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Rodák
2Tete
31Diop
4Tosin
3KurzawaBooked at 63mins
26João PalhinhaSubstituted forReedat 78'minutes
10CairneySubstituted forDe Cordova-Reidat 78'minutes
8WilsonBooked at 45minsSubstituted forWillianat 69'minutes
18Pereira
11Solomon
30Alves MoraisSubstituted forMitrovicat 64'minutes

Substitutes

5Duffy
6Reed
9Mitrovic
13Ream
14De Cordova-Reid
17Leno
20Willian
21James
38Harris

Sunderland

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Patterson
32Hume
5Ballard
6BatthBooked at 75mins
42AleseBooked at 43minsSubstituted forHugginsat 45'minutes
24Neil
25MichutSubstituted forEkwahat 77'minutes
10RobertsSubstituted forRiggat 86'minutes
16Diallo
20ClarkeSubstituted forBennetteat 77'minutes
14StewartSubstituted forBaat 20'minutes

Substitutes

2Huggins
12Bass
17Ba
19Bennette
31Rigg
34Kelly
39Ekwah
41Johnson
49Watson

Referee:Michael Salisbury

Attendance:22,905

Live Text

Match ends, Fulham 1, Sunderland 1.
Second Half ends, Fulham 1, Sunderland 1.
Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Anthony Patterson.
Attempt saved. Willian (Fulham) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner.
Attempt saved. Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Fulham) with an attempt from very close range is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt blocked. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Issa Diop.
Attempt blocked. Willian (Fulham) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Harrison Reed.
Offside, Sunderland. Amad Diallo tries a through ball, but Abdoullah Ba is caught offside.
Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Danny Batth.
Attempt blocked. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Willian.
Attempt saved. Dan Ballard (Sunderland) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Amad Diallo with a cross.
Corner, Sunderland. Conceded by Tosin Adarabioyo.
Attempt blocked. Pierre Ekwah (Sunderland) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Abdoullah Ba.
Attempt saved. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Kenny Tete with a cross.
Substitution, Sunderland. Chris Rigg replaces Patrick Roberts.
Attempt saved. Manor Solomon (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kenny Tete with a cross.
Foul by Willian (Fulham).
Amad Diallo (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Daniel Neil (Sunderland) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
Attempt blocked. Pierre Ekwah (Sunderland) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.