Fulham ‘not aggressive enough’ in Anfield defeat – Silva

Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted a lack of aggression in the opening 45 minutes cost his side dearly in their 2-0 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield.

The Whites were undone by a clinical five-minute spell before the break, as 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha scored for the hosts before Mohamed Salah doubled the lead. d.

“Yes, it’s true – the game was decided in five minutes,” Silva said. “In my opinion it was decided in that first half, where our approach was not aggressive enough, on and off the ball.

“We gave Liverpool the chance to build up their attack too easily in some moments, not with the right aggressiveness off the ball.

“That was the reason why they had the chances and they were in command of the game most of the time during the first half.”

The opener came in the 36th minute after a lapse in communication allowed Ngumoha to strike, and Silva cited that moment as the perfect example of his side’s early struggles.

“The good example of that is the way they score the first goal – a long ball from the goalkeeper, the way they were able to win that ball in the air, lack of communication between two players,” he explained.

“I think it’s a good example about our approach during that first half that was not aggressive enough for the level of a game in the Premier League, and a game that we wanted to win.”