A distraught Joshua Zirkzee was comforted by his Manchester United team-mates after his penalty miss confined his side to an FA Cup exit against Fulham. The Dutch forward played the full 120 minutes of the last-16 clash, which ended 1-1.
Calvin Bassey had headed the visitors into the lead in first-half injury time, before Bruno Fernandes levelled with 19 minutes left. Zirkzee almost created a late winner for Alejandro Garnacho, but the Argentine saw his shot saved by Bernd Leno after going clean through on goal.
Joshua Zirkzee was in tears after his penalty miss.
The home side had more of the pressure in the extra 30 minutes, but failed to find a way through. Both sides then converted their first three penalties each before the momentum swung Fulham's way.
United replacement Victor Lindelof saw his effort saved by Leno, before Callum Robinson scored for the Cottagers. That left Zirkzee needing to score just to keep his side in it.
However, his tame effort to Leno's left-hand side was comfortably kept out by the German keeper. And as Fulham's players and coaches celebrated wildly, the 23-year-old sunk to the floor in despair.
The likes of Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt, and Ayden Heaven then came over to console the forward. Manager Ruben Amorim also later offered his hand to help his player back to his feet.
However, Zirkzee continued to cut a downbeat figure as he trudged towards the changing rooms with tears in eyes. In his post-match interview though, Amorim refused to single out him and Lindelof for their misses.
Instead, he focused on all the takers, saying: "I try to relax the players and they know that it is something that is technical but you have to be relaxed and confident."
Aside from his late through ball to Garnacho, Zirkzee struggled to make an impact all afternoon. While BBC pundit Micah Richards later praised his work rate, the ex-Manchester City man also criticised his lack of threat.
"They (United) had nothing going forward," he said after the shootout. "Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund were working so hard, but they just didn't have it."
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