While appreciating the quality of Manchester City, Fulham coach Marco Silva was still disappointed with the manner of the goals conceded on Saturday.
Fulham started well but went down to Josko Gvardiol’s 13th minute strike. We then had a decent opening early in the second half, only to fall further behind when a stunning Joao Palhinha tackle dropped kindly for Phil Foden.
Gvardiol then added his second when he got on the end of a free kick, before a stoppage time Julian Alvarez penalty added some gloss to the scoreline.
“Tough game, as we expected,” Silva said. “Like for all the teams who have played against this City side at their best, it’s always really tough.
“We started the game really well, with a plan to mix up the position of Bobby Reid a bit. From our point of view, some good transitions in that period.
“As always, goals play a big part in football matches, and this afternoon is a good example of that, the way we conceded almost all four goals. Of course, credit for City and all that stuff, but we have to do much better for almost all the four goals.
“The first was a simple combination from Gvardiol in that situation – the pass and goal we have to defend much better, we have to be more aggressive. And the second as well. Okay, a little bit lucky after a good tackle from Joao.”
Adama Traore was introduced at the break and almost made an immediate impact when he picked out Rodrigo Muniz, but his flicked effort was kept out and City doubled their lead just two minutes later.
“Probably our best period, we had a chance with Rodrigo before their second goal,” Silva stated. “They scored, and the third and the fourth more or less the same situation.
“Unnecessary penalty and that set-piece goal that we conceded in a moment that we have been really, really solid in defensive set-pieces so far this season.
“And conceding goals like that against a top side like City, of course makes it much more difficult for us, and this is what's happened in the game.
“I agree with you, after the 1-0, City dominated completely the first half. We kept them quiet, no big chances for them, but the reality is that we were not able to create any chances first half.
“We had one or two moments, more with Alex [Iwobi] who was the player in that pocket area where we tried to help him create something. Apart from that, nothing really special.
“At half-time we tried to change things to give us more power in our attack line, to put a different player on our right-hand side with Adama Traore, with the help of Andreas Pereira, together with Tom Cairney to give a little bit more quality in our build-up, and from that moment to try to be more offensive.
“The start of the second half was good, we didn’t create many but I think we had a good chance with Rodrigo after the cross from Adama. Apart from that, nothing more, and the second goal killed the game.”br />