Hugo Rodellaga’s second-half strike denied the League One side Sheffield United a second Premier League scalp in this year’s FA Cup after Chris Porter’s goal in the first period had threatened a rare shock on fourth-round weekend.

With more than just one eye on Tuesday’s vital Premier League meeting with Swansea City, René Meulensteen made 11 changes to the side that was beaten by Arsenal a week ago and handed first starts to the teenagers Muamer Tankovic and Josh Passley. A third – Ange-Freddy Plumain – was on the field within 10 minutes after an injury John Arrne Riise.

A pre-match deluge had caused a pitch inspection an hour before kick-off and much of the first half mirrored the stodgy conditions. Patjim Kasami and Giorgos Karagounis pulled the strings in midfield for the visitors without ever really looking likely to carve open the home side. Indeed the greatest scare for United came when a low cross jammed in the goalmouth mud just before the half-hour mark.

Two minutes after that fright, though, the League One side were ahead. Harry Maguire rumbled forward from the back and his low cross-shot, was touched home by Porter. Less than a minute later the United captain, Michael Doyle, gave the ball away unforgivably 30 yards from his own goal. Rodallega went clean through and over the keeper George Long. A penalty and a red card might well have been the result but Andre Marriner remained unmoved, as he would twice in the second half when the sides traded penalty appeals.

It was always likely to be a tough lead to hold and within 10 minutes of the interval United’s task became that much harder following the departures of their goalscorer, defensive lynchpin and captain through a mixture of misfortune and indiscipline. The misfortune befell Porter and Maguire, both of whom suffered injuries. The indiscipline was Doyle’s, the midfielder lashing out after an altercation with Chris David and being shown the red card.

Thereafter United dug their trenches in the soggy turf on the edge of their own area and Fulham poked and prodded in an attempt to find a path through. Eventually the breakthrough came – Hugo Rodallega finding space on the edge of the area and then in the bottom corner.

In a frenzied finale, Philippe Senderos plonked a free header on to the crossbar and Darren Bent side-footed wide from little more than a yard out, but the Blades held out for a replay that both sides deserved yet, given their respective relegation battles, neither will particularly relish.

• FA Cup
• Sheffield United
• Fulham

John Ashdown

theguardian.com