Aleksandar Mitrovic barges referee as Fulham collapse with THREE red cards and concede two goals in crazy five minutes at Man United

Fulham had Aleksandar Mitrovic, Willian and manager Marco Silva sent off in the space of a minute as they imploded at Manchester United.

The Cottagers had been on course victory in the FA Cup quarter-final clash on Sunday with Mitrovic putting them ahead at Old Trafford – only to see their hopes extinguished in a matter of moments.

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Fulham were in control after Mitrovic’s opener five minutes into the second half, but the game changed just before the 70th minute.

Antony broke down the right and squared the ball for Jadon Sancho, whose goalbound effort was blocked by the arm of Willian.

The referee initially gave a corner, only for a VAR review to be signalled.

Chaos then ensued as protesting Fulham boss Silva was sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh for saying something untoward while the official checked the monitor.

Kavanagh then signalled for a penalty and showed a red card to Willian.

That prompted a furious outburst from Mitrovic who barged into Kavanagh and squared up to him – earning the Serbian striker a red card too.

It then went from bad to worse for Fulham as United scored twice in the next two minutes.

Bruno Fernandes sent Leno the wrong way from the penalty spot and two minutes later United led as Marcel Sabitzer flicked home Luke Shaw’s low cross for his first United goal.

Fernandes then lashed in United’s third in stoppage time as nine-man Fulham were overrun.

Twelve-time FA Cup winners United advance to the semi-finals to face Brighton at Wembley while Fulham will count the cost of a day that will surely hurt their push for Europe via the Premier League with suspensions to follow.

Mitrovic faces an anxious wait to see what action will be taken against him for putting his hands on an official, but Fulham boss Silva does not expect a lengthy suspension.

“I don’t think so,” Silva said of a potential long ban. “I saw the image of course and I already spoke with Mitro. It is a moment for him to control the emotions.

“Of course he pushed the referee but I didn’t see that being so bad as you are saying, so I hope the people who are going to decide, decide with the fairness the moment deserves.”