Marco Silva thinks Fulham's loss to Manchester United on the last day of the Premier League season was unfortunate.
Although Kenny Tete gave the Cottagers an early advantage, Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes brought them back. However, David de Gea stopped Aleksandar Mitrovic from the penalty spot, denying Fulham the chance to go up 2-0.
From that point on, United took control and eventually won 2-1 to go into third place in the Premier League. The outcome, with Manchester City falling short, is an excellent practice run for the FA Cup final the following weekend.
Fulham's fate was already sealed with a top-10 finish before the game even started, therefore their loss had minimal impact. Even a victory would not have advanced them higher in the standings, but the Cottagers can hardly begrudged their promotion as a club.
Silva insisted, however, that his team shouldn't have lost at Old Trafford. The 45-year-old pointed to Mitrovic's missed penalty kick as the pivotal moment in his post-game remarks.
"We didn't deserve to lose the game,” Silva said. “The game changed completely from that moment (the penalty save). We should have reacted in a different way."
“It was a moment for us to show maturity and handle the game differently but we haven't done that. The game showed again our quality and what we are doing with these players. All season we have to be really proud of what we did."
Following Manchester United's 2-1 comeback victory over Fulham in the Premier League, manager Erik ten Hag showered David de Gea with accolades.
After a sluggish start at Old Trafford, the Red Devils concluded their top-flight campaign with a fourth straight victory, but the outcome was far from simple.
In the 19th minute, Kenny Tete gave the Cottagers the lead. A short time later, the visitors were awarded a penalty following a foul by Casemiro.
Aleksandar Mitrovic went up to attempt the penalty kick conversion, but David De Gea made a spectacular stop in the bottom left corner to prevent the Serbian from scoring.
Undoubtedly, this was the Red Devils' pivotal moment. Before the half, the team managed to tie the score thanks to a fortunate tap-in goal by Jadon Sancho.
Soon after the break, Bruno Fernandes received a deceptive through pass from Fred, who timed his run into the area before chipping the ball over Bernd Leno.
After gaining the lead, United had the upper hand. Speaking after the game, Ten Hag expressed his satisfaction at De Gea's outstanding penalty save.
“I think it was the turning point," Ten Hag told manutd.com.
"The save David made was brilliant: it stimulated the team to get into that intensity and pick up the game and win it, and we scored two great goals.”
The Man United's manager further acknowledged the home crowd for their support through out the campaign and his players efforts on the pitch while assuring fans his players will give everything next week against domestic rivals Man City in the Emirates FA Cup final.
"First of all, I want to say thank you to our players," Ten Hag said to rapturous applause.
"I think they played a brilliant season. Thank you to the staff and I also want to thank you all. Thank you for your contribution, backing us and the support."
"It was great, so thank you. But when I say these words, there's still one game to go and I'm sure these players will give everything to beat Manchester City next week. I'm sure we have a really good chance to take the cup back to Old Trafford."
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