Fulham manager Marco Silva was delighted as Fulham delivered the perfect response to their previous game with a fully deserved 1-0 victory over Sunderland at Craven Cottage.
Raúl Jiménez’s clinical second-half finish secured the points, but Silva was just as pleased with the team’s control, composure, and dominance throughout the match.
“We clearly deserved the three points,” our boss said afterwards. “Good performance from us. We scored a great goal, but we should have scored much earlier in the game. Winning puts us back on the right track after the last performance (a 1-0 defeat to Everton) that wasn't the standard it should have been away from home.
Fulham were dominant from the start, with Silva praising the way his team combined patience with purpose against a resolute Sunderland side.
“We started on the front foot. When they defend so deep as well, with that 5-4-1, we had to find a way to finalise our actions and that's what we did.
“We controlled almost all moments of the game. They didn't create any clear chances to score and we controlled our defensive set pieces very well. We know they are strong in offensive transitions and long throws, but we controlled the situation and stayed well balanced on the pitch.”
And the gaffer singled out our match-winner, after he provided the decisive moment.
“It says a lot about his killer instinct. If you're a Fulham fan or not, if you're a Premier League fan, you have this guy so many years in this country scoring goals. He had the worst moment of his life five or six years ago. He bounced back with our help, with the help of this football club.
"Raúl is always going to play with his heart. He can perform amazingly well, and in other moments not so well, but you know that his heart will always be there and he'll give everything for the shirt."