Fulham boss brands his side ‘sloppy’ in derby defeat to Brentford

Marco Silva was left bemoaning the sloppiness of his Fulham side after Brentford claimed derby bragging rights on Monday night.

The Whites are still the top club in west London – sixth in the Premier League standings – but their opponents are only a point behind and boast two matches in hand.

Joao Palhinha’s midfield bite was badly missed against a physical Brentford side as the Portuguese began a two-match ban which will be completed after Sunday’s home match against Arsenal.

Manor Solomon equalised at the Gtech Community Stadium, the fifth successive game the Israeli winger has netted in, but Ivan Toney’s 51st-minute penalty restored the Bees’ lead, with former Dulwich defender Ethan Pinnock striking the opener.

Mathias Jensen made it 3-1 on 85 minutes before substitute Carlos Vinicius hooked in Fulham’s second deep into eight minutes of stoppage time.

“We started too sloppy and not aggressive or brave enough,” said Silva. “We spoke about starting well in the second half but again we were sloppy, even if the decision by the official for the penalty was really, really harsh.

“We didn’t perform at our best level.”

Fulham’s expected goals (xG) in recent matches underlines some of their struggles to create against Brighton (0.34), Wolves (0.44) and Leeds (0.22) – relying on stunning strikes from Palhinha and Solomon in the latter.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has not scored since the 1-0 win at Leicester on January 3.