It looked like being a defining moment in the match, and potentially Manchester United's season, with Benjamin Sesko failing to kill the game off as his header struck the woodwork.
Fulham's subsequent late rally might well have made the Slovenian the talking point for all the wrong reasons, although in the dying embers, the 22-year-old made sure he was front page news.
Pouncing on Bruno Fernandes' astute pull-back, the £74m summer signing produced what has become something of a trademark spin and strike, rifling home into the roof of the net without even looking at his intended target.
A sixth goal in six months in Manchester might make for grim reading, although the post-Ruben Amorim era has sparked United's number 30 into life, with the weekend win undoubtedly his finest moment to date.
Sesko-career-stats-timeless
Benjamin Sesko
It's been a learning curve, alright, but Sesko is now starting to blossom - can he mix it with the best in the future?
How Sesko compares to other Premier League striker signings
It was a summer of centre-forward upheaval, with a string of Premier League clubs all seeking that new attacking figurehead. The big number nine was back in fashion.
Sesko, a reported target for Arsenal, certainly wasn't the most expensive capture of the summer window, with Alexander Isak's British record £125m deal far eclipsing that.
Isak, after such a saga, has scored just two league goals for new side Liverpool, overshadowed by arguably the biggest striker success story of the season, Hugo Ekitike, who has scored ten top-flight goals at Anfield.
Benjamin Sesko 2024-25 stats (timeless)
Ekitike had looked on course to join Isak's former side, Newcastle United, at one stage, although the Magpies ended up with Stuttgart's Nick Woltemade instead, with the German having tailed off somewhat after a lively start, scoring seven league goals in all.
That tally still places him ahead of a man who might've ended up at Old Trafford, Viktor Gyokeres, with the previously prolific Swede enduring his own struggles at the Emirates, netting just six times for the Premier League leaders.
Selected PL striker signings - 25/26
Player
Ekitike
J. Pedro
Calvert-Lewin
Woltemade
Gyokeres
Sesko
Brobbey
Isak
Delap
Moves within the top-flight have proved fruitful, meanwhile, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Joao Pedro scoring nine times apiece for Leeds United and Chelsea, respectively, albeit with Pedro's Stamford Bridge teammate, Liam Delap, netting just a solitary league goal.
Sesko - who ranks alongside new Sunderland man and one-time Erik ten Hag target, Brian Brobbey, on five league goals - has shown signs of life of late, but evidently, he still ranks toward the bottom of this expensively assembled list.
Sesko
Somewhat frustratingly too, he is also being outshone by a figure of United's recent past as well...
Former Man Utd man is outperforming Sesko a decade after leaving
There's been a tiresome trend to analyse who the Red Devils should and shouldn't have sold in recent times, with there actually a small pool of players who truly should've been kept onboard.
Scott McTominay and Alvaro Carreras remain the notable INEOS examples, although you have to look further back for other real potential errors, with Jose Mourinho memorably admitting that he "would never have sold" any of Angel Di Maria, Javier Hernandez or Danny Welbeck.
That trio all departed under Louis van Gaal's watch, with the latter two exits particularly headscratching, not least considering the lack of centre-forward depth at United's disposal at the time.
On Welbeck, the enigmatic Dutchman was critical of his scoring record for the club, having sanctioned a measly £16m sale to rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2014.
That time with the Gunners was ravaged by injury, but over 11 years on from his Old Trafford exit, the Englishman is arguably in the form of his career, pushing for a potential wildcard World Cup inclusion this summer.
Danny-Welbeck-record-in-England
Now 35 years old, the ageing striker is the centre-piece for Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton and Hove Albion side, scoring 46 goals in 187 games for the Seagulls to date.
This season has been particularly impressive, with the Manchester native comfortable outscoring Sesko with eight league goals and nine in all competitions, with two of those coming, ironically, back at the Theatre of Dreams.
The veteran marksman rifled home a free-kick to spark late nerves in United's 4-2 win over the south coast side back in October, while having netted what would prove to be the decisive goal in the recent FA Cup meeting, lashing into the roof of the net on his weaker foot.
Fresh off the back of scoring ten league goals last term, there is a growing completeness to Welbeck's game even in his advancing years, with the Old Trafford faithful acknowledging his current impact, and prior United connection, by applauding him off in that latest cup match-up.
Brighton & Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring their second goal
The striker himself actually suggested in October that this is the "best" Red Devils side he has faced in years, but might it have been a little better with him leading the line ahead of the inexperienced Sesko?
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