After the regulation time finished 1-1, the visitors edged Everton in a nerve-racking shootout to reach the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.
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It was a special moment in Fulham’s history as they overcame a resilient Everton side in a thrilling cup win. The 7-6 penalty shootout victory allowed Fulham to reach their first ever Carabao Cup semi-final. It was an evenly fought game with very little to separate both sides. Playing at home, Everton had the backing of majority of their supporters and not to mention that form was on their side. They were the in-form team coming into this contest thanks to their brilliant run in the Premier League.
However, Fulham did their best to make a game out of the tie, as they kept the ball well and moved it around neatly. After the regulation time finished 1-1, the visitors edged Everton in a nerve-racking shootout to reach the semi-final of the Carabao Cup. Fulham manager Marco Silva was understandably delighted with helping his side reach the last-four stage against a difficult Everton team. “We are all delighted, no doubt about it. It was clearly our aim to come here and to go through in the competition, and we did it,” Silva was quoted as saying on the club’s website.
He added: “We knew before the match that it is going to be really tough, a proper cup tie. I know what it means to play here at Goodison when they are in a good moment, when they are in good form, when everybody’s on the same page, and we felt that tonight. Our second half was more difficult, I have to say. In the first half we kept the ball more and we played more in our way, we had the capacity to keep some possession, to calm down the game, to not let the game go always in their physicality.”
Silva explained how he was able to feel the home fans doing their bit to help Everton out even during difficult circumstances. “I felt the home support always there and I know how they can lift them every time in the moments that they can be struggling in the game. Even after we scored the 1-0, the support was always there. Second half we struggled a little bit, we were not able to keep the ball, we gave the ball away many times, and of course they sustained the pressure,” he elaborated.
He added: “I believe that we defended our box well until they equalised in a moment when we were really under pressure, a moment when I was preparing a tactical change. I really believe that after the 1-1, when we changed the system to five at the back, we started to control a little bit more. The game started to be a bit broken – chances for us and for them. The last 10 minutes was really tense. And, as I said, a proper cup tie.”
Not to mention that the Fulham manager gave full credit to their players for keeping a calm head during the tense penalty shootout. “I have to mention, in a tense evening, the way our players kept the composure in that penalty shootout. It’s always a really tough moment when you play away from home. Huge moment from Bernd when he kept us in the game with the fifth penalty from Onana,” he stated.
The manager further added: “I’m really delighted because it’s not easy to keep the composure, the quality in the penalty shootout like we did. Congratulations for the players, for the fans that were here tonight. We achieved something that the Club never, never, never did in the past. We want more, but we are really delighted for the moment that we are living right now, but we want more. Now we are going to play the Semi-Finals, with the dream to go and play at Wembley.”
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