It has been a long time since Fulham made it to the semi-final of a domestic cup competition. They have endured plenty of early exits, plus a few near misses in quarter-finals, since Jean Tigana oversaw a flat 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in the last four of the FA Cup in 2002.
However, if the performance against Chelsea was a case of the smaller team failing to rise to the occasion, nobody should mistake the Fulham of 2024 for being too nice. Marco Silva has ensured there is bite to sit alongside the pretty football, though there are times when the pugnacious spirit goes too far. It is less than a year since Fulham faced Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and, from 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go, suffered a meltdown that culminated in two red cards, a 3-1 defeat, an eight-game suspension for Aleksandar Mitrovic and a touchline ban for Silva.
