Moussa Dembélé proved to be Fulham’s saviour on Wednesday night as he scored a late double to propel his side to an impressive 3-1 FA Youth Cup Fifth Round Proper win at Manchester City.
The French forward was undoubtedly the difference at Boundary Park, striking twice inside the last nine minutes after Thierry Ambrose had cancelled out Liam Donnelly’s opener for the hosts.
Fulham looked the more threatening of the two sides in the first half, with George Williams’ early header, which was deflected wide, and further efforts from Cameron Burgess and Dembélé sounding a warning of the Londoners’ threat.
The FA Youth Cup
Fifth Round Proper
7pm, Wednesday 19 February
By Zarif Rasul
Dembélé did put the ball in the back of the net within a minute of the restart but the strike was ruled out as Soloman Sambou, who had squared to the striker, was offside.
But Fulham were rewarded for their attacking efforts on the hour mark when Donnelly evaded the attentions of his marker to meet Dean O’Halloran’s well-flighted corner kick and head home beyond goalkeeper Billy O’Brien.
City got themselves back in the tie with 15 minutes remaining through Ambrose, who produced a deft header to divert Jose Tasende’s cross past Marek Rodak.
However, parity lasted only six minutes, with Dembélé grabbing his first of the night with an impressive finish following good work from Patrick Roberts.
And the former Paris Saint-Germain forward made sure of the result within 120 seconds, rifling home a fierce volley to secure a next round clash with Huddersfield Town.
Highlights of Liverpool's win at Watford
Fulham will be joined in the Sixth Round Proper by Liverpool, who comfortably saw off Watford by 2-0 at Vicarage Road.
Connor Randall produced a true captain’s display in Hertfordshire, setting up Daniel Trickett-Smith and Harry Wilson in each half to keep alive the Reds’ hopes of triumphing in the competition for the first time since 2007.
Liverpool’s breakthrough came six minutes before the interval, with Trickett-Smith clinically converting following Randall’s surging run down the right-hand side and subsequent cross into the box.
Wilson grabbed Liverpool’s second in the 77th minute to book a last-eight trip to Reading.
