Gary Lineker has advocated for the elimination of extra time in the FA Cup following the match between Manchester United and Fulham on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim’s team faced yet another disappointment as they were eliminated from the tournament through penalties at Old Trafford, after 120 minutes of play that did not yield a winner. Fulham took the lead just before halftime with a goal from Calvin Bassey, but Bruno Fernandes equalized midway through the second half.
Subsequently, nearly an hour of play ensued without any goals, a scenario that both Lineker and Alan Shearer believe could have been avoided. “We have discussed this numerous times; simply remove extra time and proceed directly to penalties. It is a logical solution,” stated Lineker, 64, during an episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.
“Especially considering the amount of football teams are playing now, the number of injuries we’re seeing. Just play 90 minutes, then decide it on penalties. Because once it goes into extra time, most of us are thinking, especially when it’s as poor as it was last night, you’re just thinking ‘come on, penalty shootout, a bit of excitement’.”
Shearer, 54, agreed, telling his colleague: “Straight to penalties. I’m all for that.”
This is not the inaugural instance of a proposed rule modification being discussed on the podcast. Previously, the Football Association made the contentious decision to eliminate FA Cup replays starting from the first round in order to alleviate fixture congestion. Lineker contends that the practice of extra time should also have been discontinued.
“We still have extra-time. Personally, I think if they’re going to take away replays, they should take away extra-time,” the 1991 FA Cup winner said back in January. “Because otherwise, it really favours the strong teams – because they’ve got bigger squads, and they can put on their best players in extra-time like Spurs did [against Tamworth]. And they went on to win.”
This season, half of the eight FA Cup fifth round matches required extra time, with three of those leading to penalty shootouts. Notably, Brighton was the only team to find the net during extra time, as former United striker Danny Welbeck scored a decisive goal in the 114th minute against Newcastle.
The quarter-final fixtures are set to take place on the weekend of Saturday, March 29, featuring Fulham, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and Brighton among the remaining eight teams, all of which have yet to claim the FA Cup title.
Preston North End, competing against Aston Villa, is the only non-Premier League club still in the tournament. The last occurrence of a team from outside the top division reaching the final was Cardiff City in 2008.
Manchester City, who will be up against Bournemouth, are considered the favorites to win the cup, and should they advance to the final, it will mark their third consecutive appearance in that match.