Marco Silva was pleased with the first half display which paved the way for Fulham’s victory over Swansea City.
Aleksandar Mitrović hit a hat-trick before the break to cap a brilliant 45 minutes for the Whites.
“Happy with the result,” was Silva’s assessment. “It was a very good first half from ourselves.
“I said before the game I expected a very good game from both teams. The way we like to play and the way our opponent likes to play, I expected an open game, two quality teams, trying to win the game, trying to press high.
“In the first half we did so well, the way we beat the pressure, the way we analyse the actions.
“In our offensive transition as well, counter attacks, we had two fantastic moments, Bobby missed a big chance and the third goal from Mitro was our most perfect offensive transition. The way we built our attacks was really, really good.
“We knew that they like to press high. Without the ball, good organisation was a big part of the first half.
“Unfortunately second half was different. We had one injury yesterday, we missed Robinson with an issue with his knee. Tonight was Joe Bryan.
“Without left-backs on the bench, we changed the formation and managed the game in a different way, not so much with the ball like we like, but we showed a good organisation and managed the game.
“They had a big chance at the start of the second half but after that they didn’t have so many, and we had a big chance with Denis and set-pieces.
“The game was more balanced in the second half than the first. We deserved clearly to win the three points, we were the best team on the pitch.”
Mitrović was in devastating form, but Silva was quick to credit his teammates for creating the chances for him.
“For Mitro to score three goals means he had a very good night, but the way we arrived there with the ball, the way we put the ball there for him to score, was really, really good,” he said.
“Every striker in the world cannot score if the team does not produce for him, and we did really well for him to score.”
