Marco Silva insisted his Fulham side were not discounting the possibility of a European place in the Premier League after their victory over Sunderland.
Silva watched on as the Cottagers won 3-1 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, with Raul Jimenez’s quick double in the second half doing the damage for Fulham.
After a quiet opening period, the visitors took the lead in the 54th minute through Jimenez, with the Mexican doubling his and his team’s tally just seven minutes later.
The Fulham striker extended Fulham’s lead from the penalty spot, but Sunderland reduced the deficit with a spot-kick of their own that was tucked away by Enzo Le Fee.
However, the victory was sealed five minutes from time by Alex Iwobi, moving Fulham up to tenth in the table, while also ending a run of three consecutive Premier League defeats.
And having guided Fulham to their first Premier League double against Sunderland since the 2002-03 season under Jean Tigana, Silva did not play down the magnitude of the Cottagers’ 11th win of the season.
“We want to go higher and higher. It was a key match for us,” Silva told Match of the Day. ‘We’ll see.
“March is an important month for us with five matches, four of which are on our own field. We will try to perform at our best level.”
“It was an important victory, a big victory for us. Well deserved. We showed quality, maturity, composure, organization and courage.”
“Those are the important moments when you have to go a step further, and we succeeded.”
Really Fulham. pic.twitter.com/I7eD6msEHt
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) February 22, 2026
Following Fulham’s poor recent performance in the top flight, Silva’s position was called into question with the 48-year-old out of contract at the end of the 2025/26 season.
“No. Nothing,” Silva said when asked if any discussions about his future had taken place. “I am always in contact with the board.
“We don’t just prepare for the present, the future is always in our thoughts. This week we had another meeting. If we have something new, we will tell you.”
For Sunderland, their own European ambitions have stalled in recent weeks after sliding to three consecutive Premier League defeats.
Indeed, it is the first time the Black Cats have lost three in a row in the top flight since 2016/17, their last season in the competition, while they have also now lost more games in 2026 (five in nine games) than in 2025 (four in 18 games).
But they had their chances, with Fulham narrowly missing the expected goals (xG) (1.9 versus 1.8 from the same number of goal attempts (both 12).
“The match was in balance, key moments determined the outcome. We had a big chance just before their goal, and then the momentum shifted,” Le Bris admitted.
“We know that set pieces are important, and we weren’t good enough to deal with those situations today.
“The first half was a bit slow, we were not good enough with the ball. We were sloppy at times. Both teams had chances. It was an exciting match.”
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