That is now 10 games unbeaten for the Saints, whose manager, Tonda Eckert, clearly feels his team can maintain a Championship play-off push while competing in the Cup. Jack Stephens was rested, but Eckert resisted any temptation to make wholesale changes.
“There are moments when you realise how big it [a Cup run] is,” Eckert said. “We felt it on Friday night at a charity event, when we spoke to the fans. You come in on the coach and see the whole street is full of Southampton supporters and you see behind the goal all the fans and you feel you have to go all in. That’s why I went strong today and it paid off. Days like this are quite special.
“For me, it’s tough to say one thing is more of a priority than the other. It is not the Championship or the Cup. I think today is going to give you a boost. If you get into the habit of winning football games, we’re going to approach every match trying to win it.”
Fulham briefly thought they had taken the lead in the 19th minute, when Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz smashed a goal-kick into Ryan Manning and Rodrigo Muniz rolled the ball into the net.