Fulham boss Mark Hughes rues ‘passive’ first-half performance in defeat to Everton

Mark Hughes,Fulham(Getty Images)

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Fulham manager Mark Hughes was quick to criticise his team’s first-half display following their defeat to Everton on Saturday and insisted his side gave themselves too much to do.

The Toffees went ahead courtesy of a Seamus Coleman goal before Louis Saha added a second and despite Clint Dempsey pulling one back, the Cottagers failed to grab an equaliser.

Following the defeat at Goodison Park former Blackburn Rovers manager Hughes admitted his belief that his side allowed Everton to dictate the game in the opening period.

“We gave ourselves too much to do,” Hughes told the club’s official website after the 2-1 loss.

“The manner of our first-half performance was too passive and Everton were allowed to dictate the game to us.

“If you don’t start in the way you mean to go on then you can find yourself in a situation where you’re behind in the game.

“Invariably they Everton try to get out wide, they’ve got good quality in wider areas and they can get good quality balls into the box if you allow them to.

“Unfortunately that was the case for the first goal.”

Hughes admitted his side were better in the second half but only after conceding a freakish goal.

“The second one was just a freak goal from our point of view, it went through three people’s legs and it was very difficult for Mark Schwarzer to adjust his position,” he added.

“At two-nil down it’s a mountain to climb but we came back and showed a good response.

“In the second-half we engaged with them a lot more aggressively and stopped things at their sources which helped us. We created a number of chances that, on another day, might have gone in for us.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and we ran out of time.”

Hughes reserved praise for Bobby Zamora and his impact on the match after he entered on 60 minutes to assist Dempsey’s goal.

“We made a change and almost instantly it paid dividends for us,” Hughes said.

“It’s still early days for Bobby, he’s still not quite ready to start games but he’s going to benefit from a couple more weeks’ training prior to our next Premier League game.

“By that time I would imagine he’s very close to starting – so he just needs a little bit more work.”