The Portuguese Marco Silva, manager of Fulham, who with this Saturday’s victory, for the 18th round of the Premier League, against Southampton (2-1) moved up from tenth to seventh place in the standings, praised the team’s performance by Craven Cottage (London) on this day, in which a goal by João Palhinha, almost on the final whistle, earned the victory.
“It is definitely a great result for us. Big three points for us, in a difficult game, as we expected: even with them at the bottom of the table, we knew that Southampton have good players and they could punish us at one time or another, with set pieces or counter-attacks and distractions, as they have done. I think we deserved to win, even though we didn’t play at our best», Marco Silva told reporters at the press conference after the match in London.
“We ended 2022 well, with a win. It was a very special year for the club and team, with promotion to the Premier League. First of all for the fans: they enjoyed the games of the previous season and continue to do so in this one too, with very different challenges. Let’s all stick together. There was a good atmosphere in our stadium, Craven Cottage, and that support was important for the team,” underlined the Portuguese coach, still at Craven Cottage.
As for Palhinha’s goal, almost as the curtain fell, Marco admitted a particular flavor… for a coach who saw the opposite, his team punished with goals allowed at the end of the game. “Now it was our turn to savor a great moment, deciding the game in our favor: in the two matches in Manchester, against United and City, we lost at the last minute, fortunately now it’s been the other way around,” he recalled.
With the team in seventh place, Marco Silva does not raise the bar and thinks about UEFA. “We have to be realistic in these situations. We are an ambitious company, but we know our reality and the type of competition we are involved in, as well as the value of our opponents. Now he was bottom of the standings and they saw our difficulties. We are unable to change the objectives set at the beginning of the season one iota [manutenção]. It is keeping your feet firmly on the ground and preparing well for the next match », he said, quoted by the club’s website.
