Marco Silva
Fulham boss Marco Silva was delighted to see his side seal a historic three points in front of the Fulham faithful.
Marco Silva said: “Overall, it was a great night for our fans who really deserved it after 16 years without a win in this game. Chelsea’s superiority in this fixture has been huge and we know that they have different goals to ourselves. They are a massive club, but we knew that on the pitch, with our work, our strategy and our identity, we can balance it out and we did that. Myself as a manager, I still see lots of room to improve but I cannot hide that we are all pleased with another win which is our fourth in a row in the Premier League. The players have been brilliant and we all have to keep working really hard. The run has been impressive but a bad run can always come and we must stick together.”
After a tricky start, Marco watched as his side grew into the game.
Marco Silva added: “We took some time to adjust because they started on the front foot and created a good chance within the first few minutes of the match. We took five to ten minutes to adjust and to control the position of João Félix and Mason Mount a bit better between the lines. After that I think we started to balance the game out more and it was a good first half. We had chances and we embraced the challenge. We matched them and we tried to press them. Of course, in some moments with their quality they beat our pressure and they can always create problems against every team in this competition. We were more clinical than them in the first half and then we started the second half in the worst way possible, conceding an early goal. It gave them a boost and the confidence to create some more problems for us.”
Our Head Coach was especially pleased with our frontman Carlos Vinícius on the night.
Marco Silva said: “It’s really tough when you arrive at a football club and the striker you are fighting with for a position is Mitrovic. Mitro has been a key player for this football club which can be tough for other strikers. Carlos needs time to adapt and I think the World Cup break and the mini pre-season we had was important for him to understand better the identity and what we expect from him. I think tonight was his best performance so far, not just because he scored the goal but also the confidence he played with. To score a winner in a game like that will boost his confidence and he deserves it because it’s tough to be sometimes in the shadow of someone like Mitro.”
