Aleksandar Mitrovic gives odd explanation for red card against Man Utd
Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has apologised for his behaviour that led to him being sent off during the club’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester United.
Mitrovic himself had given Fulham the lead at Old Trafford and the Cottagers were just 20 minutes plus stoppage time away from a trip to Wembley for the last four.
But then it all spectacularly collapsed for them. Willian was sent off for a deliberate handball on the goal-line, which eventually led to a Manchester United penalty after a VAR review because the initial ruling from referee Chris Kavanagh was a corner.
Fulham boss Marco Silva lost control and was ordered from the touchline before a decision had actually been made one way or the other. When Kavanagh spotted the handball, Willian was sent off, followed Mitrovic after he had angrily confronted and pushed the official.
“On a personal level, I regret my actions that led to me being sent off. I allowed my frustration to get the better of me, and how I reacted was wrong,” he said.
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The Serbian striker then gave a slightly bizarre explanation as to why he did what he did.
“I was trying to get the referee's attention,” he said. “But I appreciate that I should not have put my hands on him and I understand why he showed me a red card, my first in-game sending off for Fulham and my first since the 2015/16 season.
“I have accepted the three-match ban for my red card, I have spoken to Chris Kavanagh to apologise, and I have volunteered to accept a club fine. I now want to do what I can to put this incident behind me and get back to helping my team-mates on the pitch as soon as possible.”
After Bruno Fernandes scored the Manchester United equaliser from the penalty spot, nine-man Fulham couldn’t hold out. Marcel Sabitzer put the home side ahead almost straight away with his first goal in English football, before Fernandes got his second deep into stoppage time.
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