Everton manager Marco Silva watched his team fall to a 2-0 loss against Fulham during the weekend. This was a major blow to Everton’s objectives of at least trying to reach the Europa League places by the end of the season. The Blues had a major wobble midway through the campaign, but there were plenty of hopes raised when the team put together a string of three successive victories – including games against Chelsea and Arsenal. Just when Everton were aiming for a fourth successive victory in the league in order to keep up with the likes of Leicester City and Wolves, the team has received a major blow in the form of the loss against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

After a goalless first half, the hosts were able to get goals from Tom Cairney and Ryan Babel in the second half. It should be noted that Fulham have already been relegated from the Premier League and they are only playing for pride in the remainder of the campaign. Silva admitted after the match that Everton did not do enough in order to get three points at Craven Cottage. The defeat was a missed opportunity for Everton, who also watched Leicester City and Wolves lose during the weekend. There is still hope of Everton finishing in the top seven with four matches left.

“It was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance. I didn’t expect this because we’ve been on a good run, and we’ve been in good confidence also. We knew it would be difficult playing here. Fulham played with character to achieve something for them, and they were more aggressive and faster than us. We didn’t perform in the way we needed to in order to win the match. I expected them [to play with pride] and it’s what I expected from my players too. All of us inside the dressing room knew this,” said Silva.