Fulham slumped to another late defeat against another Manchester Club late on, as Marco Silva believes the "best team on the pitch" lost the game as a late Alejandro Garnacho goal stole all three points for Manchester United.
Silva was adamant that his Fulham side were the better team on the night and was rueful of his side conceding yet another late goal. "Of course, it's really tough to take. Twice in seven days for us with a late goal and we lost the chance to have more points in the table. With the way we have been playing, it's really tough, but this one is different because I think we were the best team on the pitch."
Silva is of course referring to the late Erling Haaland penalty scored in the 95th minute last week against Manchester City, meaning Fulham have now dropped points against higher level opposition twice in two weeks. It is nothing to be ashamed of but Silva will be fuming at the manner in which their position was surrendered.
Defeat heading into the World Cup.
It is not what Silva would have wanted for his team's morale going into the four week break for the World Cup. The Portuguese man will certainly have conflicting emotions when the World Cup starts up in Qatar.
He will have one eye on his home nation but will also be keeping tabs on the Fulham players who are making the trip with their respective nations. Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson will be representing USA, Joao Palhinha with Portugal and top goal scorer Aleksander Mitrovic will be travelling with Serbia.
Serbia's record goal scorer has been the subject of discussion this evening as he was left out of the squad with a foot injury, yet he has been included in Serbia's squad, citing questions over the legitimacy of the claims.
The Fulham manager did not speak about the ordeal following the game.
Gap in quality costing Fulham.
Despite his complaints, Silva was quick to acknowledge the quality of the opposition and the clinical aspect they hold. "The way they scored their second goal was really tough to take. It's the Premier League. You switch off, and they punish you."
As mentioned, Fulham have now suffered late defeats to two oppositions of high quality and it comes down to having that killer instinct in the big moments. The home side certainly had their chances to win the game, with chances for goal scorer Dan James and Carlos Vinicius.
"It's cruel. But we have to learn from these moments", he further added. This will be an invaluable lesson for Fulham going forward for the rest of the season. They are playing well against better opposition but are lacking in the big moments.
You imagine Silva will be make his players aware of this and will look to improve in the attacking third once his players reassemble after the World Cup.