Marco Silva rued Fulham’s failure to finish a hatful of first-half chances as his side slumped to a disappointing defeat against Newcastle United at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Whites dominated the first period but paid the penalty for failing to kill off an injury-hit Magpies outfit, with Bruno Guimaraes burying a late winner past Bernd Leno to pinch the points for the visitors.
Silva admitted afterwards:
“We had the chance [to win the game]. We had a very good first half, just lack of better definition and attack. During the first half the way we pressed them, we pushed them and they were really struggling. We should have scored one or two goals at least and if that type of things happen, it’s of course impossible to guess what will happen. It’s important to be clinical when you create so many chances.”
The Fulham head coach was also outspoken about what he called Newcastle’s ‘tactical gamesmanship,’ accusing Eddie Howe’s players of feigning injury to break up prolonged spells of home pressure.
“Yes, it was tactical. The first one is clear, they gave the feedback for the goalkeeper to go down. It is something that is allowed, if the goalkeeper is down the referee has to stop the game. No way for the game to keep going but it was a tactical decision from them. It is what it is. Newcastle tried to break our momentum with the goalkeeper twice. Players on the grass always trying to break that momentum. They were struggling in that moment.”
