Marco Silva praised Fulham’s commitment and organisation after his side frustrated title-chasing Arsenal and picked up a point in an absorbing London derby at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Gunners, who trailed to an early strike from Raul Jimenez, equalised in the second half through William Saliba but were denied a late winner when Bukayo Saka’s far post header was ruled out off for offiside by the video assistant referee.
The Fulham head coach was delighted with his side’s display – telling the BBC after the final whistle:
“I’m more pleased with the way our players fought, the commitment, the organisation. It’s always tough when we play against them but they know it will be tough too. We create a difficult scenario for them. We have to be honest and fair. On the ball it was one of the games we had less time on the ball. We scored a very good goal. Second half was more difficult. The team has less energy.
They scored a really tight goal. The players were brave enough. Second half much more control from them but not big chances. Performance-wise it wasn’t the best game from ourselves. What a goal [that Jimenez scored], what a move and what a finish. It’s been a tough week. In eight days we played Tottenham, Brighton and Arsenal. They’ve been great. The momentum is here for us. We have to be proud of the season so far.”
A hard earned point against a fantastic team. I thought we defended with great determination, showed a lot of fight & character but Smith Rowe is a concern. Again he was nowhere to be seen for large periods, seems to drift out of games. I thought he had a great game away at Palace but there’s no consistency. You’d have thought against his old team he might have a point to prove but he was poor and rightly subbed after 60 mins. I’m starting to see why Arsenal sold him. Sadly, we paid £34 millon for him….
Yes a big question mark about him. Originally it was whether or not he would be able to stay fit, now it doesn’t seem to matter. Let’s hope Marco can work his magic on him over the rest of the season.
We can’t always play the attractive football we like to see. Sometimes you need to roll your sleeves up and show guts and spirit. All the team dug deep including ESR. The only way Arsenal could beat was with a set piece. They had a lot of the ball but failed to hurt us. Great finish by Raul our lone striker.
Can’t wait for Liverpool
Another great point, COYW!!
Definitely a very hard fought for point and totally deserved.
Thanks to Lukic and Berge and our defensive five.
But we can’t let that hide the fact that, as in the Brighton game, where our on target chances equalled our two goals, today, we had one chance (which Jiminez took beautifully) and one goal.
Against teams like Arsenal, everybody needs to be up for the game and we can’t afford passengers.
Unfortunately, in Smith Rowe, who HAD to be wanting to prove a point, we had one and, in Traore, we had another.
The first never got beyond first gear and the second constantly gave the ball away.
Against such a strong midfield, why even bother playing with two wide men?
Silva seems stuck, like glue, to this system but, surely, occasionally, a change in setup is warranted?
Why not reinforce the midfield and allow us to, at least, offer some resistance instead of sitting back and letting Arsenal swarm forward throughout?
There was a sense of inevitability about their equaliser and, then, Saka’s goal -thankfully disallowed.
Personally, I hate it when a team sits back, soaks up punishment and allows the opposition to attack in waves.
Now, we lose Bassey for the trip to Anfield. Will Andersen be fit or will Cuenca-still an unknown quantity -get a start?
Fully agree with Charles re EMR – The Invisible Man – and Traoré – The Best Mover and Shaker but can’t pass can’t finish . EMR on course as the the transfer flop of the Decade or can Silva way that Wizard’s ç see wind again .