Sunderland fell to a 3-1 defeat to Fulham on Sunday afternoon
Fulham boss Marco Silva said he felt his team deserved their win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
Silva said his side had been clinical in securing the three points with a 3-1 win, but felt it was the right result on the balance of play. The Fulham boss was full of praise for his players after their performance in front of what he described as an ‘incredible’ home support.
“It was a tough place to come,” Silva said.
“Incredible, the home support. They are capable really to push them forward, to make life difficult for the opposition side. If you want to play in certain ways, it's always difficult. The pressure is very high. That extra player from the stands, always [you play] with a big pressure.
“It's been working well for them, and you knew it. Of course, the pitch is not perfect for both sides as well, not just for us, for them too. We knew that this game was going to be a certain type of characteristics that you have to handle really well, and we did it, I really believe that we did it. Any free kick in the half-way line is going to be the ball in our box, any throw-in in the third attack is going to be the ball in our box.
“We knew that we have to keep the organisation, the composure, to be aggressive in the right way, because they are going to be. They chase all the balls. They are very aggressive in that type of game, and I really believe that we handled it very well in the first half. I don't remember one chance from them, that is true. Some balls in our box, but two good moments. One great one with Sessegnon, another very good one with Kevin.
“In the second half, they had a big chance before our goal, that is true. In the moment that we should not have lost that ball, we lost the ball. Of course, we created that problem for us, and of course, good reaction from them. Then we are clinical. Very good goal from the corner, well-prepared, they executed very well.”
Silva said he was most pleased with the reaction of his players after Enzo Le Fee’s penalty made it 2-1 with fifteen minutes to play, with Alex Iwobi eventually settling the contest with a good goal on the counter attack.
“After the 2-1 is the moment that pleased me more, really, about our side, we handled it very well,” Silva said.
“The pressure, they were buzzing in that moment. Their quality, their pressure was very good goal.
“No chances from them until our third goal, and we scored the third goal in an incredible moment from us. Very good counter-attack, everything what Harry Wilson did until the moment the pass was brilliant. Of course, a brilliant pass for him, finishing from Alex. Overall, I think we deserved the three points. We were clinical but we deserved the three points.
“We won the game, we deserved it.”
Régis Le Bris delivers verdict on what went wrong for Sunderland in Fulham defeat
“A tough day because it's a defeat at home, key moments defined this game,” Le Bris said.
“We had the opportunity during the second half to score and just after, they scored twice on set pieces. Probably our first half wasn't controlled enough, we struggled to find the right rhythm. We got two injuries, which didn't help. But we were probably a bit sloppy, lacked quality with the ball and we didn't control this part of the game properly. I think the reaction at the beginning of the second half was good, but it was a reaction. And after that, just key moments, like in the Premier League.
“We had a strong opponent, they had the quality to score when it's on. We felt the quality in the first half but didn't express it really. So the intention, the lads were positive about their intentions, but we struggled to find the right way to express it.”
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