Fulham manager Marco Silva has praised teammate Samuel Chukwueze for his impressive two-goal performance, despite their defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles winger came on as a second half substitute and scored twice for the Cottagers as they were beaten 5-4 in an English Premier League classic in front of their fans.
The on-loan forward made his first start since his summer arrival in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur and earned the player of the match award for his impressive showings.
The 26-year-old had provided two assists already for Fulham this season and was searching for his long-awaited EPL goal.
Chukwueze started Tuesday’s clash on the bench, with former Arsenal player Emile Smith-Rowe preferred in his place.
However, he came on at halftime and almost inspired a remarkable comeback with a two-goal display for the Cottagers.
The former Villareal winger scored his first in the 72nd minute to make the scoreline 5-3, before grabbing another goal with a stunning strike in the 78th minute.
Countryman Alex Iwobi was also on the scoresheet in the encounter, grabbing a deserved goal on his 305th EPL appearance.
Silva heaps praises on Chukwueze
Speaking after the narrow defeat, Marco Silva hailed the impact of the Super Eagles star and explained why he started the game on the bench.
“He’s already making an impact. Last Saturday, he did it. As a part of our plans and from the physical point of view, we decided to manage him because he had his first almost 90 minutes against Tottenham”, the Portuguese revealed.
“Of course, we put him on the bench. We wanted to play with ESR [Emile Smith-Rowe] and Alex [Iwobi] there, almost without a winger, with Alex and Sander [Barge] in the middle.
“The impact was massive from him again, but I have to talk about other players. The performance from Emile was a very good one, and he’s showing that he’s getting better.
“We changed at half-time because we needed more energy from Castagne on the right-hand side, and I have to praise Josh”, he added.
The Fulham manager also lamented the potential absence of the 26-year-old, who could join the Nigerian squad for the African Cup of Nations in Morocco later this month.
The winger alongside Iwobi and Calvin Bassey were named in Eric Chelle’s preliminary squad and are expected to make the final list to represent the Super Eagles at the tournament
“Chukwu is just showing his quality; he has quality on the right and on the left. He can make the right decisions as well”, Silva continued.
“He’s getting better and better. Unfortunately, we’re going to lose him in 15 days time like it was three times in the last three months, but it is what it is, and till then we have to get the best from him and let’s hope we can do it on Sunday again.”
