Fulham coach Marco Silva analysed his side’s performance, as Fulham fell to a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad in the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
“We started the game like we planned, showed we were ready to match them, and displayed our desire to go through - it was a very good moment of football,” said Silva.
“Our first half was very good, especially the way we controlled the ball, the way we built our attacks.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t start the second like we should’ve.
“We have to be assertive in those types of moments. Then they killed the game, and we had to manage our players for the future.
“Everyone in the stadium felt Fulham Football Club was here, and we matched them.
“One of the things I asked of the players in the pre-match meeting was to show the courage to play at the Eithad the same way we play against all the teams in the Championship.
“We matched them in the first half and took many positives.
“The second half showed what we need to improve on, we need more resilience, to be a bit more aggressive.”
“We knew before the match how difficult the task will be.
“Manchester City created problems like they do against all the teams in this country and around Europe. They deserve to stay in this competition.”
The Whites are back in action on Tuesday night, when Millwall visit Craven Cottage, and Fulham’s Head Coach is fully aware of the task ahead.
“From tomorrow, we need to recover our players,” continued Silva.
“The next game is always the most important. We’ll keep fighting for what we want.
“It’s a good challenge, but a different challenge. Our biggest desire is to be successful at the end of the season.”
During his post-matched press conference, Silva reserved some praise for Fabio Carvalho who opened the scoring.
“We trust Fabio, he works hard to improve every day even with the rumours around him.
“He’s fully focused on this Club. He deserves all the highlights because he has enough quality and talent to play at this level.”