After a thrilling weekend of FA Cup action, it was always going to take an exceptional incident to snatch the spotlight away from the drama that unfolded at Bramall Lane and Old Trafford.
When Tommy Doyle’s last-gasp winner against Blackburn Rovers pencilled Sheffield United in with a tasty semi-final encounter against Manchester City under the illustrious Wembley arch next month, across the Pennines later that afternoon it was hoped football would once again be at the core of each post-match discussion between Fulham and Manchester United.
That looked set to be the case as the Londoners puffed their chests out and exhibited a fine sense of swagger and verve as they took to the Old Trafford turf as United's equals, before deservedly edging themselves ahead early in the second half thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first FA Cup strike.
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But the focus of those post-match conversations would soon shift quite significantly, and not for the better, in the following 15 or so minutes when Mitrovic, Willian and Marco Silva turned themselves from heroes to villains. Their successive moments of individual madness, starting with the Brazilian’s handball off the line, ensured Fulham would not be making the short trip north of the River Thames next month for their first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 2002 as the Red Devils rallied back to win 3-1 against the nine men of Fulham.
Though Willian’s blushes, and perhaps even those of his manager, would ultimately be sparred by the stupidity of Mitrovic, who in a moment of complete delirium pushed referee Chris Kavanagh before launching a rant in protest against his decision to award a clear penalty to Erik Ten Hag’s side.
Most reading this will have likely seen the unwelcome scenes that unfolded during those 120 seconds of disorder on Sunday afternoon, making it little surprise that there is such a troubling shortage of referees readied for the next generation as abuse at grassroots levels continues to soar to new heights on a weekly basis up and down the country.
Now, with the eyes of the world watching, PGMOL and any remaining wannabe referees will surely be closely monitoring the actions of the Football Association as they determine how best to punish the Serbian forward. It begs the question as to how English football has come full circle almost 25 years on from Paulo Di Canio's shove on referee Paul Alcock?
It is expected that between now and the end of the season the Fulham No.9 will have plenty of time to explore the root cause of his actions as he prepares to be hit with a lengthy ban from the English game's governing body, which may all but end the White's hopes of qualifying for next season's Europa League despite playing a tremendous Premier League campaign so far.
But are the FA entirely blameless in this situation or could they have prevented the circus Kavanagh so expertly dealt with on Sunday afternoon?
It was only earlier this month, 16 days ago to be precise, that Bruno Fernandes managed to somehow steal the limelight despite Manchester United sinking to a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Of course, this time the headlines for the United midfielder were no endorsement of his mesmerising ability that has so regularly lit up the Premier League since his move from Sporting CP in the early weeks of 2020.
In fact, this was Fernandes at his irritable worst as United shipped goals two, three, four, five, six and eventually seven throughout an unprecedented goal-scoring rampage during the second half at Anfield.
But despite sporting the captain's armband for Ten Hag's side in the absence of the out-of-favour Harry Maguire, the Portuguese midfielder instead resorted to throwing a petulant tantrum after a coming together with Reds full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.
With the game out of United's grasp, Fernandes' frustration was instead directed towards assistant referee Adam Nunn who was swatted aside by the midfielder with complete disregard.
In the heat of the moment, it was an incident the Anfield crowd reacted to with an ample amount of fury as the prospect of waving one of their most intolerable opponents off the turf and for an early shower would have pleasingly rubbed salt deep into the fresh wounds of their old foes on a historic afternoon on Merseyside.
But when referee Andrew Madley failed to award a card of any distinction for such an unsavoury incident, and with the FA later failing to take retrospective action against Fernandes, the opportunity to clamp down on the degrading treatment of referees in England was inexcusably overlooked by the bosses of the English game.
That inaction has not gone unnoticed. Martin Cassidy, chief executive of charity Ref Support UK, told The i: "The Mitrovic incident in the Manchester United vs Fulham FA Cup quarter-final is a chance for the FA to become a true game-changer and send out a strong message that this is unacceptable behaviour and that we must protect referees at all levels.
“This escalation we believe has come from the FA failing to respond robustly to the Bruno Fernandes incident in the Manchester United vs Liverpool game, and it’s clear players have seen that and realised that they can basically get away with what they want. Not touching a match official at all levels should be viewed as sacrosanct and not something anyone in football can do."
While Mitrovic will no doubt have the book thrown in his direction in the coming days and weeks, the damaging images that circulated worldwide in the aftermath of his Old Trafford drama could well prove to be the final nail in the coffin for those debating whether a career in top-flight officiating is truly worth it.
But really, it didn't have to end this way. It was all too predictable.
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