Marco Silva praises 'more mature' Rodrigo Muniz after eventful cameo in Fulham defeat to Arsenal | OneFootball

Fulham striker missed a huge chance but then got himself on scoresheet to give Fulham late hope

Rodrigo Muniz pulled one back for Fulham in stoppage-time

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Marco Silva believes Rodrigo Muniz has matured as a striker and was impressed by the Brazilian's mindset against Arsenal.

Silva introduced Muniz from the bench, and the Brazilian missed a sitter of a header but regrouped and halved the deficit in stoppage time to ensure Fulham found the net on the night and denied their hosts a clean sheet.

“From a mental point of view, I think it’s good for him,” Silva said of Muniz, who now has 10 goals in all competitions this season.

“Rodrigo understands the life of a striker. He cannot be so down when something happens.

“I saw him fighting until the end to try to get something from the game. He scored one and even after that, he was in the game.

“Rodrigo is already more mature and understands really well what his job is in his team and what it means to be a striker. It’s what I demand from him.”

Silva was disappointed by his side’s first-half performance but more encouraged with how they played after the break.

“It was not the best performance from us, definitely,” the Fulham boss admitted.

“The first half was not at the level that it should be. On the ball, we were not aggressive enough. They have this capacity to push us back.

“In these types of games, you cannot concede goals the way we conceded the two goals. Two very soft goals.”

The Portuguese added: “The biggest difference between both halves [is] that the second half we were much more aggressive in our attack. That is the reason we created four chances to score. In the first half, I don’t think we created one.”