Marco Silva admits Fulham paid the price for some “sloppy” defense in their 2-1 home loss to Aston Villa.
After Rodrigo Muniz’s score, the Whites put their opponents under pressure, but they were unable to get an equalizer.
In the build-up to the opening goal, Fulham lost possession after Willian was fouled, and were punished when Jacob Ramsey reclaimed the ball, which fell to Ollie Watkins, who scored decisively.
And for the second goal, Youri Tielemans’ pass split the defence, allowing Watkins to beat Issa Diop and score.
Boss Silva believes his team “100%” earned a point after battling their way back into the game after Watkins’ brace.
However, he acknowledged, “The first goal we conceded had a significant impact on the game and gave them confidence that they could control it.”
“Until that point, the game was very balanced, with neither team taking the lead, and both teams respecting themselves and having a plan.
“I believe we performed well at the start of the second half. We had some threatening moments, and we tried to control the game by playing more in our attacking half, but we can’t keep conceding goals like we did this afternoon.
“I believe we were severely punished by that second goal. The way we defended that time was quite clumsy, and the second goal felt like a tremendous punch to ourselves.
“The reaction after the moment that we scored for 2-1 completely lifted ourselves and it was a completely different team.”
João Palhinha is facing a two-match ban after receiving his 10th yellow card of the season.
“We have quality inside our squad to replace him,” Silva insisted.
