Marco Silva stated that if Fulham cannot win like they did against Crystal Palace, then the team must ensure they do not concede a goal. At Craven Cottage, Fulham were more proactive overall, but frustrated by a very subtle VAR offside decision, they subsequently conceded a winning goal in the 87th minute from a corner, a goal by Mark Guieis, and suffered a heartbreaking defeat.  

After the match, Marco Silva said: "We knew Crystal Palace would use this tactic in the game; they tried to shut everything down most of the time. Five players dropped back into the defensive line, four forwards pushed forward, and sometimes Jean-Philippe Mateta would drop very deep to try to block our attacks."  

“We know this will be a game that requires patience, but it is also very important to maintain a fast pace of possession. This is one of the reasons why we sometimes couldn’t find a better solution, and sometimes our pace of possession in the backfield was slower than it should have been.”  

“Even so, I think we were absolutely dominant in the game. Of course, sometimes that advantage might not be obvious in terms of the number of chances, but we did create a lot of scoring opportunities. We started well, and the first two or three corner kicks were quite threatening. Emil had a shot on goal, but it was saved by the opponent, and Kenny also had a good chance.”  

"Then, when the opponent scored, they didn't make any special moves, but they still managed to score a beautiful goal. Our reaction was very quick, and Emil had a fantastic chance to equalize, but it was saved by Henderson. Then, the team scored through a brilliant combination play in the middle, and Harry Wilson's shot was superb."  

“I firmly believe that at that moment, we fully deserved to equalize because we kept trying to create chances, even against a team with a compact formation and a deep defense. During halftime, we talked and discussed the adjustments we needed to make with and without the ball. Most importantly, we needed to start the game with more energy, push the attack forward faster, and not give the opponent the opportunity to quickly organize their attack from the back.”  

“We started well, that’s a fact. We scored a goal, but it was disallowed, which was very frustrating for the team. Perhaps Chukwueze was under a lot of pressure, that’s the cruel reality of the game. It was tough for us because a great goal was disallowed. We maintained possession, but we didn’t show the same intensity and energy as in the last game, creating many attacking opportunities from one side to the other.”  

“I think one of the reasons is that we should have increased the speed of our passing from the backfield to get the ball into the attacking area more quickly. But we didn’t do that, and the game became very evenly matched as a result. The opponent was always waiting for their chance and trying to take advantage of our mistakes. That’s how it is in these kinds of games; if we can’t win, we can’t lose that way.”  

“Sometimes, we have to be resilient and keep striving to win. I think the team was working hard, but at the same time, we needed to stay focused and organized, and be resilient at every moment of the game, because these are crucial to achieving a good result in the end. Overall, we couldn’t accept conceding that goal in the final stages of the game.”