Joshua Zirkzee was quickly consoled by almost everyone at Old Trafford after the Man United striker missed a crucial penalty in his side’s penalty shootout with Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Red Devils fell to a 4-3 defeat on spot-kicks following a 1-1 stalemate after 120 minutes of action, concluding their FA Cup defence by logging the club’s worst ever run in a season after winning the competition.
Zirkzee stepped up to take United’s final penalty and had to score if he wished to give his side a lifeline in the shootout. But he ended up blasting his shot into Bernd Leno’s gloves and could not hide his immediate despair.
He pulled his shirt over his face and dropped to his knees as Fulham celebrated their joint-best FA Cup run since 2001-02.
Shortly after, Zirkzee was surrounded by his team-mates, with Matthijs de Ligt, Diogo Dalot and Chido Obi helping him up to his feet as he fought back tears.
Bruno Fernandes, Noussair Mazraoui, Rasmus Hojlund and Victor Lindelof, the latter having also missed for United in the shootout, followed in to console Zirkzee.
Joshua Zirkzee missed a penalty for Man United in their FA Cup shootout defeat by Fulham
He was quickly consoled by his team-mates as he fought back tears, laying on the floor
Some Fulham players also came over to share their sympathies with the Dutchman shortly after
Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, Kalvin Bassey and Raul Jimenez were next in line to reassure the dejected Zirkzee, while United boss Ruben Amorim shared an embrace with his player as they clapped the attending supporters.
As well as those on the pitch, fans shared their sympathies with Zirkzee, as chants of ‘Oh, Joshua Zirkzee’ rang around Old Trafford, a stadium where the forward was once booed off in at the end of last year.
Zirkzee came off after just 33 minutes, as the Red Devils conceded twice in the opening 19 minutes of a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle in December.
He responded to the adversity by netting the winning penalty for United in their shootout win over Arsenal in the FA Cup third round in January, and has captured the hearts of many fans since.
Amorim refused to single out Zirkzee or Lindelof for their penalty misses, and offered a general verdict on United’s agonising end to their FA Cup defence.
‘It’s hard. We managed to score in the second half after that set-piece goal. It’s harder for us to go and press high, we managed to do it and score and I think we had the best chances in the game,’ he said.
‘In the end, penalties can go both ways but today was not our day.
‘We try to relax the players. They know that it’s something technical but also it’s the moment. You have to be relaxed and confident and we try to do that before penalties.’
Ruben Amorim followed in and shared an embrace with his tearfully dejected frontman
United fans chanted ‘Oh, Joshua Zirkzee’ around Old Trafford after he dropped to his knees
United failed to make it three FA Cup final appearances in a row, having faced rivals Man City at Wembley in 2022 and 2023.
City remain the only ‘Big Six’ team left in the competition, having beaten Plymouth Argyle 3-1 at the Etihad on Saturday.
Liverpool suffered an unprecedented 1-0 defeat by the Championship side last month, while Tottenham fell to Aston Villa in the fourth round, Chelsea were bounced out by Brighton and Arsenal were eliminated by United in the third round.
Fulham now face London rivals Crystal Palace in the quarter-final at Craven Cottage, in their bid to win their first FA Cup in club history.