admin“We Knew— Fulham Boss Marco Silva give brutal and honest Leeds United following 1-win
Saturday presented Leeds United with another chance to add valuable points to their tally following a bruising defeat last time out against Newcastle United.
The Whites had been leading 3-2 heading into stoppage time at St James’ Park, only to lose their grip on the contest and concede twice late on, leaving them empty-handed.
They responded positively in midweek, however, securing an FA Cup victory over Derby County, with Daniel Farke rotating his squad to keep key players fresh ahead of the Fulham clash.
As expected, the meeting was a difficult one. Both sides were involved in a tight affair at Craven Cottage earlier in the season, settled by a late Gabriel Gudmundsson own goal. This time, though, the game unfolded very differently.
As is often the case at Elland Road, Leeds dominated proceedings. They pinned Fulham back for long periods and carved out chance after chance, but wasteful finishing prevented them from putting the game to bed.
Despite that, Lukas Nmecha finally broke the deadlock in stoppage time, securing a deserved three points for Farke’s side.
After the match, Fulham manager Marco Silva conceded his team fell well short of expectations, criticising their lack of attacking threat:
“We knew it was going to be tough — the demands that Elland Road puts on you are very high. In the second half, we didn’t perform at our level at all.
We conceded late, but they had chances before that. We didn’t create a single chance in the second half.”
The statistics backed up Silva’s assessment, with Leeds registering five big chances while Fulham failed to produce even one.
Result boosts Leeds’ survival hopes
Despite their profligacy in front of goal, Leeds’ performance against a well-organised Fulham side highlighted the squad’s potential. The Whites also showed their attacking quality by scoring three times away at Newcastle in their previous outing.
Farke has repeatedly stressed throughout the season that his team would need moments of fortune to turn strong performances into results.
That belief is now beginning to be rewarded, and Leeds will hope the momentum continues through the run-in.
However, questions remain over their finishing — a possible reason behind reported interest from the 49ers in Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen.
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