Silva praises Jimenez after Fulham victory

Fulham boss Marco Silva praised the mental fortitude of Raul Jimenez after the Mexico forward scored twice in his side’s 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage.

Jimenez, signed from Wolves in the summer to replace Aleksandar Mitrovic, had not scored since March 2022 before netting in a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa last month.

The 32-year-old, who was almost forced to retire after sustaining a sickening head injury in 2020, has struggled in front of goal this season, but two superb finishes in either half helped Fulham to their biggest Premier League win in more than 10 years.

“It’s really important in any player to score. We all have problems in life but it is just a matter of not scoring goals and it’s not the end of the world,” said Silva.

“He never showed to me he was under pressure, but I know inside how he was feeling.

“But if you keep playing well the good times will come. His commitment was always there and It is nice to see him scoring now.

“It is not just tonight, against Liverpool at Anfield he had an amazing game, he had to fight with (Virgil) Van Dijk and (Joel) Matip a long way from our goal and he won duels all game.”

After scoring just 10 goals in their opening 12 matches, Fulham have now hit 11 in their past three matches to help the Whites move comfortably to mid-table.

“For the first 10 minutes we were not at the level we should be, but we were very good tonight and it is a good feeling to share the goals,” Silva said.