Fulham showed courage in defeat at Man City, says Silva

Fulham boss Marcos Silva praised his players for the courage they displayed in their FA Cup defeat at Manchester City.

They were beaten 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium, where City fought back after Fabio Carvalho gave the Whites an early lead.

Silva said before the match that Fulham would play with “big ambition” and look to attack the Premier League leaders.

And they certainly did, causing Pep Guardiola’s side major problems before the hosts took control in the second half.

Silva said: “I asked the players to show the courage to play at the Etihad in the same way they have been playing in all the other pitches so far.

“I think we did that. I’m really pleased with the we played in the first half. We matched them in all the moments in the first half. The second half showed us what we can improve.”

Fulham made the perfect start, with an unchallenged Carvalho scoring from close range after just four minutes.

City were level a couple of minutes later and ahead by the 16th-minute mark – Ilkay Guendogan fired in the equaliser after being set up by Riyad Mahrez and John Stones headed home after being found by Kevin de Bruyne.

Two goals in the space of four minutes early in the second half put the tie beyond Fulham.

Mahrez made it 3-1 with a penalty after Joe Bryan had brought down Jack Grealish.

And Mahrez then scored again with a deflected effort after good work by De Bruyne.

Silva said: “We started the game like we planned – a strong start, showing that we were here to match them and to do our best and show desire to go through in the competition.

“It was the worst thing for us that after scoring they equalised straightaway. In those moments we have to show more resilience.

“Of course after that they scored to make it 2-1. But our first half was really good. I was really pleased to see the way we played in the first half. We did really well.”