Fulham manager Marco Silva was frustrated by the manner in which Fulham lost to Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.
As we entered stoppage time, a draw looked to be a disappointing result after an impressive second half showing, but even that eluded us as Bruno Fernandes capitalised when several attempted clearances ended up at his feet.
“Really difficult one for us to take, definitely,” Silva said. “I said yesterday that we wanted to write a different story, we wanted to be the better team again.
“Overall in the game, I think we did it, [but] at this level we cannot be punished the way we were. Many people are going to talk about Fulham being unlucky, but that’s not for me, to be honest.
“At the end of the match, the way we concede the goal, it’s clearly a matter of emotional control. We have to be there in the game from the first second until the last second, and in 10 seconds we made three/four mistakes from three/four different players.
“It’s difficult to understand. Of course, we win and we lose together. I'm always in front of them and they know it was not a tactical thing, it was some individual decisions that we have to take in a better way, because there was no reason for us to be nervous or panic in that moment.
“Our second half showed that we were always in control, we didn't give nothing, almost nothing, for Man United. That is the reality. And in one moment, in just 10 seconds, we lost completely the emotional control, three/four different players in the same moment.”
The opening 45 was a low key affair, but Fulham dominated after the break, with Andre Onana making two excellent saves to deny Harry Wilson and João Palhinha.
“Overall during the game, first half was 50/50,” Silva stated. “No one was really on the front foot. Man United started better than us, but we started to grow into the game regarding what we planned for the game.
“We adjusted some things at half-time and second half we were the better team on the pitch, clearly. We created more chances, we arrived in dangerous areas so many times, and with better decisions we should have created even more.
“But, even so, I think the chances we did create were enough for us to score. Good saves from Onana, that is true, but playing against Man United and creating what we did, we should have scored.
“It is what it is, a tough one to take, more because the way it happened. I already spoke with the players, they’re all down, but it was our fault and we have to look for it like that.
“It was clearly our fault we didn't win the game, and now we have to look for the next one.”