Fulham boss Marco Silva heralded an ‘important win’ after his side came from behind to win a see saw encounter at Stoke this afternoon and stretch their lead at the top of the Championship to eight points.
The league leaders, without the services of top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and the division’s highest assister Harry Wilson, responded well to the shock of going behind in the first minute. Brazilian forward Rodrigo Muniz replied immediately and put Fulham ahead before half time before Bobby Decordova-Reid thumped in the winner after Lewis Baker’s long-ranger had pulled the Potters level.
Silva told his post-match press conference:
“It was a really important win for us, really really important. Against Stoke here is really tough, really tough to play here. We knew before the match they would be a tough team to play against with quality, they can create a lot of problems for the opposition side.
Our players showed big character, good movement, fantastic goals again. I have to congratulate them, I’m proud of them. We gave a fantastic answer again. You have to give it week in week out. We know from the start of the season that our strengths come from the collective, not one or two players. We did that again without our two top scorers, two key players for us.
Perhaps everyone was waiting for Fulham not to win but our collective idea was there again, produced again. The players who came in did fantastic in a tough game. Stoke did well and created problems. It was a fantastic atmosphere and they pushed the team back. I’m really pleased for our players.”
Well done Marco, well done!
Great result after going behind so early
Brilliant result against a tough Stoke side. In Marco I trust.
This was, indeed, a very good result.
Absent 2 of our best players, we end up with 3 points that put us 8 points ahead of Bournemouth.
There’s no arguing with that.
Having seen Scott Parker’s semi-meltdown reaction to Bournemouth’s latest fumble, I think he is also feeling the strain as the gap widens. Awesome!
For Muniz, stepping into the boots of the best striker in the division, there was a heavy burden on his shoulders but, despite still being very raw, he scored a goal that any striker would be proud of, possibly got a touch for the second and definitely was majorly responsible for the third with a great header that smashed against the crossbar so we have to be pleased with him.
For some reason though, when most needed, Neeskens Kebano failed to turn up but that’s okay because he has been a star in so many games this season.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Robinson. I have been very critical of him recently but he managed to put a sock in my mouth with his performance against Birmingham but, boy oh boy, was he back to his worst today. I just don’t get it. He is blessed with agility and pace but gives the ball away so often that it just beggars belief. One of his errors today almost cost us a goal.
He is off on international duty so unavailable for the Blackpool game. Not sure how the USA gets to play 3 World Cup Qualifiers at this time. What happened to International breaks when all national teams play?
No doubt Joe Bryan, who has not even featured on the bench recently, will be asked to step in next week. Here’s hoping that he does well enough this time to retain his position.
I can’t see Robinson being back for Man City either. The final US game is the 3rd and we play our FA Cup tie on the 5th. Allowing for travel, recovery etc, Bryan should get these two games to show his real worth and keep hold of the left back spot.
I have to say I agree with the comments on Robinson. Fine going forward. Poor defensively and not improving in that regard. Often an accident waiting to happen. Whereas Bryan is also good going forward but is better defensively.