The Whites' FA Cup journey has come to an end after Fulham lost 4-1 to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
Fabio put us ahead inside of four minutes but City soon equalised and from there, they were able to take control of the game to knock us out of the competition.
Despite a break in league action, Marco retained a strong side to face the Premier League Champions. The new man on the block, Neco Williams, came in at right-back to make his debut for the Whites and Nathaniel Chalobah started in place of captain Tom Cairney, whilst Marek Rodák made way for Paulo Gazzaniga - who keeps his place in the team for the FA Cup.
It was the quickest of starts for the hosts when they won the ball from what could have been given as a foul. Kevin De Bruyne put the ball through to Grealish, whose shot was well stopped by Gazzaniga.
But the tables turned in the fourth minute when Harry Wilson crossed in a ball across the face of the goal, making it an easy tap in for Fabio Carvalho.
The ball had barely kicked off again when Man City, in their traditional ruthless style, levelled the score through Ilkay Gundogan, who squeezed it into the net after being found by Riyad Mahrez.
City kept a hold of the ball well following the equaliser and their possession paid off when John Stones rose the highest from an in-swinging corner to nod them in front in the 13th minute of the game.
The Whites didn’t seem over-roared by the occasion or the score-line and looked to keep on playing their game, much like has been seen in our Championship fixtures throughout much of this season.
The game settled into a slower pace compared to that of the opening minutes, as we looked equally as dangerous as the Premier League leaders in spells. Mitro, in the 35th minute, turned his man and had a shot whistle past the post.
City’s best opportunities came on the break, through their wealth of talent including the likes of De Bruyne, Grealish and Mahrez, who all looked capable of causing damage when bearing down on the goal.
It was an entertaining first half of football at the Etihad and despite the scoreline, it looked as though it was all to play for.
The second half kicked off and Manchester City looked to ramp up the pressure on the Whites, something that came to fruition when Grealish danced his way into the penalty area, before being brought down by Joe Bryan, giving no other choice for the referee but to point to the spot. Mahrez stepped up to take the resulting penalty and despite diving the right way, it had too much power for Paulo to keep out.
The afternoon got even more difficult for us when City made it four through Mahrez in the 57th minute, who scored his second of the afternoon. De Bruyne latched onto a sloppy pass from Harrison Reed and squared it to Mahrez unselfishly, leaving him to slot it past Paulo.
A good chance fell to Fabio just minutes later, but his effort was well collected by Zackary Steffen.
The hosts had firmly taken control of the game and saw the final 20 minutes out comfortably by holding onto the ball. Liam Delap, son of Rory, had the ball in the back of the net to make it 5-1 but the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside. VAR agreed with the decision.
In the 92nd minute, Tim Ream had a chance to grab a late consolation but the 'keeper did enough to keep it out.
