Platt praises two-goal Silva

Manchester City assistant coach David Platt lauded David Silva after the midfielder scored both goals in the champions’ 2-0 win over Fulham.

The Spanish maestro struck in the second minute at the Etihad Stadium before adding a second with a deft chip with 21 minutes remaining to move City to within four points of neighbours Manchester Untied at the top of the Premier League table.

The 27-year-old had scored just one goal this season prior to the match but Platt believes Silva’s performance is reflective of the season he has had, despite the lack of goals.

“Last year he had a few more goals under his belt but we know how important he is whether he is scoring goals or not,” Platt said after the win.

“I think his performances have been right up there. I think it would be harsh to say it has been lacking.

“He is in the team for all sorts of different reasons, not just his goalscoring ability.

“I think his performances of late have deserved goals. I am pleased he got the two and he should have had a third.”

Although City finished the game strongly with Silva nearly scoring a third immediately after he doubled the lead, Platt felt the home side were not at their best in the first period.

“We scored after 90 seconds and you think that should settle us.

“But we didn’t really get going at full throttle in the first half. In the second half we were better.”

Meanwhile, Fulham manager Martin Jol believes his side missed an opportunity to surprise the champions despite failing to create many clear-cut chances throughout the encounter.

“You are fearful – we were very concerned because if you concede a goal after one-and-a-half minutes, you really fear for a bad game, a bad afternoon,” Jol said.

“But it wasn’t, we did okay. If you consider they scored the second goal in the 69th minute, we could have hurt them today.

“In the first half they had a shot from (Edin) Dzeko over the bar and a shot from (Carlos) Tevez but that was probably it. I felt we could have done a bit more and scored the equaliser.

“But if you have got Silva – he has extra quality, probably the best player in the Premier League. He was fantastic but overall I felt we did okay.”