Marco Silva says Liverpool star did something 'excellent' against Fulham and makes 'soft' claim

Marco Silva rued Fulham’s ‘soft’ defending in the second half of their defeat by Liverpool.

The Reds earned a 3-1 victory at Craven Cottage to remain firmly in the Premier League title race with five games remaining. Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring for the visitors with a stunning free-kick in the 32nd minute before Timothy Casagne equalised in stoppage-time.

But Jurgen Klopp’s men pressed their foot on the gas in the second period, with Ryan Gravenberch restoring the lead before Diogo Jota confirmed all three points to move Liverpool above Manchester City and level on 74 points with leaders Arsenal.

Silva was encouraged by aspects of Fulham’s performance but did not feel they reacted well enough after Gravenberch’s match-winner. The Cottagers boss said: “First half was good. A balanced first half, not one team on the front foot really. We knew how they were going to start or try to start. I think we were solid, we were in a good shape.

“It was not a first half of many, many chances for both sides. Of course, they scored an excellent free-kick from Arnold and our reaction was really good. I think we had some very good moments as well, some counter-attacks, some open play moments as well.

“Even under pressure we tried to build, and the result at half-time was fair because the reaction was good. I really think we deserved the equaliser and deserved the goal in that moment.

“When you expect the same intensity at the start of the second half, the way we conceded the goal was really hard for us to take. It was a good chance for us to make a good counter-attack down our left hand side, [but] we gave the ball away and they scored with a very good strike.

“And from that moment, I agree the reaction was not so good. It was not good enough, not like the first half-reaction and it was more difficult for us to create chances to equalise.”

“The way we conceded the two goals, the second and the third goals during the second half, was really hard for us,” he said. “We have to learn from that situation, for the future, to not happen again, because after that it was more difficult for us to react.

“The third goal was the goal that killed the game. A moment that we should be stronger in that challenge, we were a little too soft in the challenge, and they won that challenge where our defender should be much stronger because there was a moment for us to stop that situation.”