Fulham boss Marco Silva believes his side showed the “courage” needed to play against Manchester City in their FA Cup fourth round defeat.
City eased into the fifth round of the competition with a 4-1 win, but only after being given a slight scare by their Championship opponents.
Liverpool-linked Fabio Carvalho gave the visitors the lead inside four minutes of the game, although it was short-lived as Ilkay Gundogan restored parity just 90 seconds later.
John Stones put City ahead before the quarter-hour mark, with a quick-fire double from Riyad Mahrez after the break putting the tie beyond any doubt.
But, despite feeling like a slow start to the second half cost his side, Silva was pleased with Fulham's efforts as they demonstrated why they look well set for a return to the Premier League.
“We started the game like we planned, showed we were ready to match them, and displayed our desire to go through — it was a very good moment of football,” said Silva.
“Our first half was very good, especially the way we controlled the ball, the way we built our attacks.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t start the second like we should’ve.
“We have to be assertive in those types of moments. Then they killed the game, and we had to manage our players for the future.
“Everyone in the stadium felt Fulham Football Club was here, and we matched them.
“One of the things I asked of the players in the pre-match meeting was to show the courage to play at the Eithad the same way we play against all the teams in the Championship.
“We matched them in the first half and took many positives.
“The second half showed what we need to improve on, we need more resilience, to be a bit more aggressive.”
“We knew before the match how difficult the task will be.
“Manchester City created problems like they do against all the teams in this country and around Europe. They deserve to stay in this competition.”
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