Fulham manager Marco Silva praised the impact of Samuel Chukwueze despite his side’s 2-0 defeat to Everton in the English Premier League on Saturday, SportPremi reports.
The Nigerian winger joined the Cottagers on summer transfer deadline day on an initial loan deal from AC Milan, but has endured a slow start to his career in England with a couple of substitute appearances.
The 26-year-old came on once again in the second half of Saturday’s defeat at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but was unable to help his side to victory as they were defeated once again.
The Super Eagles forward will however hope for an improved display for his country during the international break when they battle Gabon in the CAF World Cup playoffs.
Everything Marco Silva said
Speaking after the game, Marco Silva praised Chukwueze’s introduction into the game, which injected urgency into Fulham’s attack.
“We played for twenty minutes. The first 20 minutes of the second half was the only moment in the game where I felt our team, on the ball and off the ball, were doing the things that we should and we prepared for the game”, Silva said.
“And of course, the impact from Chukwueze and Rodrigo was there but before it should have been much better, that’s the reality.”
The Fulham boss also expressed disappointment with the team’s overall performance as they could not build on last weekend’s win against Wolves.
“Today was not good enough in terms of performance or result,” Silva added.
“It’s definitely a disappointing afternoon for us, and we got what we deserved; it’s as simple as that.
“You can always win or lose football matches, but you have to be competitive, and this afternoon we were only competitive for about 20 minutes of the game.”
How Everton won the game
Everton headed into the game on the back of a three-game winless run in the league, while Fulham ended their own losing streak in the previous match-day.
The home side were the better side for majority of the clash and were denied the opener after seeing two disallowed goals in the first half.
Idrissa Gana Gueye made sure there was something to take into the half time break, when he found the back of the net in stoppage time.
Fulham improved after the break following the introduction of fresh attacking options from the bench, including Chukwueze, but could not get past Jordan Pickford in Everton goal.
Iliman Ndiaye then produced a superb clearance to deny Kevin as the game remained 1-0 in favor of Everton.
Michael Keane headed in a corner kick from player of the match Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 81st minute past Bernd Leno to make the scoreline 2-0 and seal the win for the Toffees.
Everton moved up to 11th on the standings with 15 points, while Fulham are 15th on the log with 11 points so far.
