Fulham 4-1 Watford

Fulham coasted into the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round at the expense of Championship side Watford, coming away 4-1 winners at the Cottage.

The Hornets briefly levelled against the run of play after Rodrigo Muniz’s opener, but second-half goals from Raúl Jiménez, Joachim Andersen and Timothy Castagne ensured a safe passage.

With temperatures barely above freezing, it took both sides a little while to warm up, although Alex Iwobi came close to converting Adama Traoré’s inviting cross at the back stick.

Iwobi then tried his luck with a low curling effort from the edge of the area, but the fingertips of goalkeeper Jonathan Bond tipped it past the post.

The away side offered little threat, coming closest on 25 minutes when a speculative half-volley from Edo Kayembe failed to trouble Steven Benda, while Joachim Andersen nipped in to stop Tom Ince getting a shot away moments later.

And it was Fulham who deservedly went ahead through Muniz, who brilliantly swept home with a first-time finish from Adama’s ball across the box.

There was almost a quickfire second when Ryan Sessegnon’s volley was blocked after Iwobi’s backheel, and Castagne’s piledriver was deflected behind when the ball came back out to the full-back.

Iwobi tried his luck for a second time as the onslaught continued, but once again there was a yellow shirt in the way of the long-range shot.

Despite most of the Cottage crowd expecting a second Fulham goal, it was Watford who scored next, as Rocco Vata blasted an unstoppable strike from all of 30 yards to supply the sucker punch and equalise.

Seconds into the second half, Iwobi brought the ball down and fed Sessegnon, whose angled strike was turned behind by a Hornets defender.

It didn't take long before Whites went ahead again though, as Adama was thrown to the ground by Antonio Tikvic, and substitute Raúl stepped up to comfortably dispatch the resulting spot-kick.

With Fulham in a ruthless mood, it took a point-blank save from Bond to prevent further damage, as Emile Smith Rowe looked to tap home after a cut-back from Raúl.

Our second-tier opponents couldn’t contain Marco’s side, and a third goal followed when captain Andreas whipped in a corner and Joachim Andersen crashed home a thunderous effort.

Jorge Cuenca headed just wide from another set piece before Andreas – wearing the captain’s armband – almost claimed goal of the night with a spectacular volley that nearly snapped the crossbar in two.

A fourth goal followed with five minutes remaining as substitute Martial Godo raced down the right and perfectly picked out Castagne to head home and round off a dominant cup display.