Marcel Sabitzer felt that Manchester United fully deserved to secure their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup following their dramatic 3-1 quarter-final win over Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
United, who will face Premier League counterparts Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley next month, recovered from a goal down to book their second Wembley visit of the season, but it took 40 seconds of madness to give them a huge helping hand. Following Aleksandar Mitrovic's opener, United were awarded a penalty with just over a quarter-of-an-hour to go, after Willian had blocked Jadon Sancho's close-range effort with his arm.
After being advised to review the decision on the pitchside monitor, referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the penalty spot, sent Willian off and then chaos descended on what had, up until that juncture, been a flat and uninspiring contest. Mitrovic was so furious with the decision that he decided to push Kavanagh, resulting in him being brandished with a straight red card, while Cottagers boss Marco Silva also saw red for making his feelings known on the touchline.
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Once all of the chaos had been dealt with, Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty to make it 1-1, ahead of Sabitzer bagging his first United goal less than two minutes later to flip the tie on its head in the blink of an eye. Fernandes then scored his second to put the tie beyond doubt in added time.
The result was not a fair reflection of how the game had unfolded, with Fulham, for most of it, the better side. United struggled to get into any sort of rhythm and were second best. Nevertheless, that was not how Sabitzer saw it.
Asked if United deserved the victory, Sabitzer, speaking to ITV Sport, said: "We won it. Why not? We scored three, they scored one.
"We were concentrating, focused until the end and I think we deserved to win. In the first half we had some chances that we missed. In the second half we were 1-0 down but, as I said, we came back and that was the important thing."
On the handball incident that led to United being awarded a penalty and three Fulham individuals being sent off, the Bayern Munich loanee continued: "I haven't seen it [back on a replay]. The referee decided it was handball and a penalty, so we're good with it.
"I'm focused on the game. It was easier for us but, as I said, we had to be focused on the game, on the result and we did it, that's the important thing."
On scoring his first United goal, Sabitzer added: "I am so happy. It was an important one, to make it 2-1, so I am very, very happy now."
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