Man United crashes out of the FA Cup but 'naive' Amorim says winning Premier League is ultimate goal

Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday after losing on penalties to Fulham.

Rather than bemoan the latest blow in a miserable season, though, United coach Ruben Amorim insisted his sights were set on a bigger trophy.

“The goal is to win the Premier League. So I know that we are losing games and losing trophies during this season, but the goal is to win the Premier League again,” Amorim said after the 4-3 shootout loss at Old Trafford. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take. But that is our goal.

“If you think like that, we can suffer a little bit in these defeats — a lot sometimes — but we have a goal, so we continue, no matter what, we continue forward.”

Cup holder United was sent spinning out in the fifth round as Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee saw spot kicks saved after the game ended 1-1 following extra time.

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was the hero with the crucial stops that set up a quarterfinal match against Crystal Palace.

It took a second-half equalizer from Bruno Fernandes to send the game to extra time after Calvin Bassey headed Fulham in front just before the break. But it proved a temporary reprieve for United, which now has just one trophy to aim for this season — the Europa League.

United last won the Premier League in the 2012-13 season and, despite Amorim's ambition, the next league title feels a long way off. His team is languishing in 14th place in the standings and seems unlikely to finish in the top half this season.

It has been a torrid start for the Portuguese coach, who only took charge in November.

Knockout competitions had provided a rare source of optimism, and with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all eliminated from the FA Cup, the path was opening up for United to successfully defend the trophy it lifted last May.

But the 13-time winner posed little threat in a first half that ended with sections of the home support jeering after Bassey headed Fulham in front from close range.

United captain Fernandes sparked the home team into life with a low, first time finish from inside the box in the 71st minute.

United then had chances to win. Alejandro Garnacho was denied by Leno when through on goal in added time and the keeper blocked another effort from Chido Obi in extra time before his shootout heroics.

“I know they had chances but I think we were the best team on the pitch,” Fulham coach Marco Silva said. “Our team was on the ball, dominating the ball. We deserve to be in the next stage.”

Man United great Wayne Rooney, the club's all-time top goal scorer, criticized Amorim’s title ambition remarks.

The BBC pundit said “it’s a little bit naive to say ‘We’re looking to win the Premier League’ because, from where they are now, they’re a long way off that.”

Rooney's remarks were put to Amorim at his post-match news conference as the Portuguese coach was asked whether it was realistic to talk about winning the title.

“That is the goal," Amorim said. “Being naive is to think that we are going to do it this season or going to be the best contender for the next season."

Danny Welbeck fired Brighton into the last eight with an extra-time winner against Newcastle.

Welbeck — a two-time winner of the famous trophy with Arsenal — came off the bench to seal a 2-1 win at St. James' Park.

Brighton hosts Nottingham Forest or Ipswich in the next round.

With the game locked at 1-1 and seemingly heading to a penalty shootout, Welbeck produced a brilliant finish in the 114th to lift the ball over Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from a narrow angle. The 34-year-old former England forward had timed his run perfectly to beat Newcastle's offside trap and meet Solly March's throughball. And despite running away from goal, he managed to turn and clip his shot into the back of the net.

Newcastle led 1-0 through Alexander Isak's penalty in the 22nd, but Yankuba Minteh leveled in the 44th.

Both teams had players sent off in the second half — Anthony Gordon for Newcastle in the 83rd and Tariq Lamptey in added time.

Fabian Schar thought he'd scored a late extra-time winner for the hosts but it was ruled out for offside by VAR.

Welbeck's goal secured a fifth-straight win for Brighton in all competitions.

Newcastle is hoping to end a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy and can still achieve that this season when it plays Liverpool in the English League Cup final later this month.

Four-time defending Premier League champion Manchester City travels to Bournemouth in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.

Second-tier Preston hosts Aston Villa.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Fulham players celebrate after defeating Manchester United in a penalty shootout during the English FA Cup soccer match at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Fulham players celebrate after defeating Manchester United in a penalty shootout during the English FA Cup soccer match at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim walks on the pitch at the end of the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Fulham's Andreas Pereira, right, challenges for the ball with Manchester United's Matthijs de Ligt during the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Fulham's Calvin Bassey, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho in action during the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz, left, challenges for the ball with Manchester United's Matthijs de Ligt during the English FA Cup soccer match between Manchester United and Fulham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Newcastle United's Alexander Isak scores their side's first goal of the game from a penalty during the FA Cup fifth round match between Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Brighton and Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck, right, scores their side's second goal during the FA Cup fifth round match between Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Brighton and Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's second goal during the FA Cup fifth round match between Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Samira Bou Saab had hoped to see the execution of the man who was sentenced to death for killing her son. Instead, he eventually could be released under a sweeping draft amnesty law in Lebanon that is revealing the country's complex history of loyalties and conflict.

Lebanon's largest amnesty since the end of its devastating 1975-90 civil war is expected to occur in the coming weeks, once parliament approves it and the president signs it.

The law would replace death sentences, reduce life sentences and eventually lead to the release of convicted militants and drug dealers while excluding crimes such as rape, human trafficking, corruption, funding acts of terrorism and premeditated murder. Those convicted of killing Lebanese troops could see reduced prison terms.

Even as Israel's latest invasion of Lebanon in pursuit of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group has delayed parliamentary elections, lawmakers have said they are pressing ahead with the amnesty law because of overcrowding in jails.

Over 3,000 of nearly 8,600 detainees would be freed, including those in jail without trial for at least 14 years.

But some in Lebanon oppose the amnesty. Recently, families of fallen soldiers protested by placing dozens of empty military boots outside parliament in Beirut.

Bou Saab’s son, George, an army first lieutenant, was one of 18 military members killed in clashes with followers of radical Sunni Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Assir in the southern city of Sidon in 2013.

Bou Saab asked whether al-Assir, who has served 11 years under a death sentence, would have the right under the amnesty to see his children and family “while my son is buried under the sand and his children don’t know him.” If the law is approved, the death sentence would be gone and he would have 10 more years to serve.

Al-Assir’s wife, meanwhile, blasted the amnesty, saying her husband is an innocent victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, which she said ignited battles between the cleric’s supporters and the Lebanese army.

“He is being executed slowly,” Amal Shamseddine said of her husband's sentence, adding, "Had there been justice in our country, they (detainees) would have been released and gone home long time ago.”

Lebanon's last major amnesty was in 1991, with the aim of facilitating reconciliation after the civil war left 150,000 people dead. The conflict drew in multiple militias, many of them sectarian, plus Palestinian factions. Syria's military intervened, and an Israeli invasion in 1982 reached Beirut.

After that amnesty, most militia leaders became part of Lebanon's ruling class that later was blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement leading to an economic meltdown in 2019.

As the current amnesty law was drafted, the country's deep sectarian divisions were clear in the legislature. Sunni lawmakers demanded the release of Islamists, Shiite ones sought the release of drug dealers mostly from Lebanon’s eastern, cannabis-planting Baalbek region.

Christian legislators demanded amnesty for hundreds of citizens who fled to Israel after its forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. Many have links to the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia that was dissolved when Israel withdrew.

“The draft law has entered the road of political bargains,” said lawmaker Nabil Badr, a strong supporter of the amnesty, adding that many legislators are using it to make political gains.

Maryam Younnes was 5 when she fled with her family to Israel in 2000. She hopes the amnesty will allow her to return to Lebanon, where she can meet her grandmother again and visit her father's grave. He had been an SLA commander and his body was brought to his hometown for burial after he died in 2013.

But political considerations remain.

“We will return once Lebanon is cleared of (Hezbollah), illegal weapons, and once there is peace between Lebanon and Israel,” Younnes said. Hezbollah, which emerged in southern Lebanon in 1982 in response to Israel's invasion, was allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli occupation forces.

After Israel withdrew, hundreds of SLA members stayed in Lebanon and received jail sentences, with some later released.

The draft amnesty law says Lebanese citizens living in Israel would be treated in accordance with a 2011 law saying members of the pro-Israel militia will be detained upon their arrival in Lebanon and given “a fair trial.”

But Younnes declared: “Our people are no criminals.”

As Lebanon and Israel hold their first direct talks in more than three decades while a new conflict grows, Younnes hopes for an eventual peace treaty with open borders.

“I am confident the situation will change and I want to return to my country,” she said.

FILE - Police stand guard where a portrait of imprisoned hardline Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir hangs on a post, on the sidelines of a protest against a clause in a proposed amnesty law that would exclude some prisoners, including the cleric, from being eligible for amnesty, after Friday prayers in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - Sunni Muslims wave religious flags during a protest against the clause in a proposed amnesty law that would exclude some prisoners from being eligible for amnesty, after Friday prayers in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - Amal Shamseddine, the wife of imprisoned Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir, holds a portrait of her husband during a protest against the clause in a proposed amnesty law that would exclude her husband from being eligible for amnesty, after Friday prayers in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - Sunni Muslims hold a portrait of imprisoned Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir, center right, during a protest against the clause in a proposed amnesty law that would exclude some prisoners, including the cleric, from being eligible for amnesty, after Friday prayers in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

FILE - Sunni Muslims hold a portrait of imprisoned Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir during a protest against a clause in a proposed amnesty law that would exclude some prisoners, including the cleric, from being eligible for amnesty, after Friday prayers in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)