Fulham dealt injury blow ahead of Arsenal clash as Marco Silva makes 'tough' admission

Fulham lost an important player to injury on Friday night, and with a date with Arsenal next on the schedule. The Cottagers came up short against Bournemouth after a late flurry of goals that saw the first goal of the game scored in the 70th minute.

Ryan Sessegnon put Fulham ahead, but Bournemouth equalised eight minutes later, and they scored again in the 84th minute before finishing in with a third deep into stoppage time. The defeat means it’s back-to-back losses for Fulham going into the international break, and back-to-back 3-1 defeats no less.

Another downside for Fulham is the loss of midfielder Sasa Lukic, who was forced off injured early in the game. That means Lukic will be a doubt for the Arsenal game on the other side of the international break, although the break will give him a chance of returning on the other side.

“It was tough to lose it the way we lost it,”Fulham boss Marco Silva said after the game. “In the first 15/20 minutes we lost Saša (Lukić) as well. Tom Cairney came in, and we adjusted. We changed the position of Harry Wilson. We had a low block in place. I would like to see us a little higher as a block. We started to control things a little bit better from that moment.

“We knew they had pace in the attack line, and the first half was very balanced. We had some moments to punish them on the counterattack in that first period. We missed the passes, and they did not for their third goal. It happened to often for us in these moments. We must be more assertive and punish the opposition.

“We started the second half better. Much more in control with longer possessions from us. We broke the intensity they usually have to jump and pressurise, and we slowed down the game in the way we like to prepare ourselves. It was a great collective goal from us and a great combination down the left-hand side for a nice goal. Until they equalised they had created zero chances. They arrived in dangerous areas but they didn’t see one clear chance.

“Two individual moments from two Bournemouth players decided the game. That is the reality. We have to be stronger in those moments, it’s as simple as that. We had things completely under control in terms of organisation but the two moments decided the game and everything was more difficult after that. Even then we had two great chances through Tom Cairney to equalise the game so my players showed a reaction despite the setbacks.”

Fulham will be hoping Lukic can recover over the course of the break, but we don’t yet have details on his injury and the extent of it. The Cottagers face Newcastle United after Arsenal in what will be a tough run of games straight after the international break.

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