Fulham boss makes 'deserved' admission as West Brom defeat title favourites

Fulham head coach Marco Silva admitted that his side were second best on Tuesday night and that West Bromwich Albion "deserved to win".

The Baggies were indeed the superior side over the 90 minutes, particularly in the first half when they restricted the league leaders to zero shots before going on to claim all three points.

Callum Robinson took advantage of some abysmal defending from the Cottagers in the second half to get the winning goal. Antonee Robinson gave the ball away to Karlan Grant, who slipped it past a disjointed backline to put the Irish international through on goal.

Fulham created chances of their own thereafter, but West Brom were resolute and held on for a massive win in their campaign. Although it only takes them up to 12th in the Championship, they are just six points off sixth-placed Middlesbrough.

Silva was disappointed with his team's performance, but admitted that it would be a disservice to Albion to blame the result fully on that measure alone.

“It was not good enough. In the first half we were not here – it was just our shirts on the pitch,” the Portuguese tactician said after the final whistle.

“I don’t want to be unfair on West Brom because they were the best team and they deserved to win.

“We didn’t express ourselves, and they did what we expected. Marek (Rodak) kept us in the game.

“In the second half it was a little bit different. We had a big chance with Mitro (Aleksandar Mitrovic) where we should have equalised.”