Former Everton boss Marco Silva was one of three Fulham players and staff to be sent off during their 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
Fighting for the right to face Brighton and Hove Albion in the semi-final at Wembley, the Whites raced into the lead shortly after half-time when Aleksandar Mitrovic was well-placed to convert Issa Diop's flick-on at the back post and stun Old Trafford into silence.
However, despite enjoying a greater share of possession, chaos descended on the fixture with 20 minutes remaining as Jadon Sancho kept his cool to take the ball around Bernd Leno and Harrison Reed - only to see his effort blocked illegally blocked on the line by the hand of Willian.
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As referee Chris Kavanagh was instructed to review the incident on the pitch-side VAR monitor, manager Silva unreasonably made his feelings clear about the happening and was immediately shown a red card for trying to influence Kavanagh's decision.
After a straightforward review, Kavanagh awarded a spot-kick and prompted scenes of celebration in the stands of Old Trafford as he sent Willian off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. However, Mitrovic was quick to get in the face of Kavanagh and in a moment of madness decided to push the official before lambasting his decision.
The Serbia international was, like his manager just seconds earlier, shown a red card which cued a moment of madness on the Old Trafford pitch as assistant manager Luís Boa Morte was forced to make his way onto the field to restrain the forward from causing further problems.
Bruno Fernandes converted the resulting penalty to cancel out Mitrovic's early strike and midfielder Marcel Sabitzer completed the turnaround less than two minutes later as he connected with Luke Shaw's low-driven cross inside the box to punish the remaining nine men of Fulham.
Fernandes then fired his second and United's third in stoppage time to secure a 3-1 victory for Erik Ten Hag's side
It is expected that Willian will only serve a one-match ban in the Premier League for his offence and will therefore be back in action for West Ham United's visit to Craven Cottage on April 8.
However, Mitrovic, who is Fulham's top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions this season, will almost certainly be hit with a three-match ban, at least, for the violent conduct charge that will follow his red card. Such a ban would mean he would be forced to miss the Londoners' trip to Everton next month.
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