Fulham manager Marco Silva was thrilled to see Fulham book their place in the Quarter-Finals of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday evening.
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After our meeting with Manchester United ended 1-1 after extra-time, Bernd Leno produced two saves in the penalty shoot-out to ensure our progression into the last-eight, when we’ll welcome Crystal Palace to Craven Cottage.
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“It was our goal, definitely,” Silva said. “We wanted to be in the next stage, we wanted to play in the Quarter Finals. And I really believe, and it's my feeling, that we deserve to be there.
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“We knew that the way Man United is going to play, it's not easy to come here and to take the control the game, knowing that they love the open space to counter-attack.
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“First half, we were not at our best. We said some things at half-time, and I think the team improved last 30 minutes of the second half, even with the reaction and the goal from Bruno.
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“I think we controlled the game, we started to find always Sander Berge alone every single moment of the game, and after from that we built, to Sasa, or Emile, or Andreas as well. And all the extra-time was the same,we took the control.
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“To come here and to take the game to their defensive half, we know always that we take risks in that situation, because since Garnacho came in, they had the pace of him to create problems, and that was the only problem they created, from counter-attack situations.
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“They had chances, like we had as well. In that aspect, I think the game was balanced, but much more us in control, much more taking the responsibility to control the game on the ball, it is our way, our identity.
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“And overall looking at the game, I really believe that we deserve to be in the next stage.”
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In addition to Leno’s saves from Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee, we saw flawless spot-kicks from Raúl Jiménez, Berge, Willian and Antonee Robinson.
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“I love the composure of our team,” Silva stated. “We prepared really well [for] the game. We knew what the game could demand from ourselves, for the 90, for the 120 minutes, even for the penalties.
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“And the composure of our players…was great to see Raul, Sander, Willian and Robinson do it the way they did. I told the players in the last seconds before the penalty shoot-out that we’ve come a long way, to be in the next stage.
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“I know that it’s not easy away from home, with this crowd, to take the responsibility in that moment in the penalty shoot-out, but it was a moment for us to embrace the challenge, and to go and do what we prepared, the way they did it the training sessions.
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“And they did it fantastically. And of course Leno, it was a moment for him to do his part, and he did it in every way.”