Fulham star Joao Palhinha has insisted that his side deserved to beat Manchester United after seeing them instead slip to a defeat in the last minute.
Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to net the winner deep into stoppage time for the Red Devils. It left the Cottagers dejected, with Marco Silva's men having been the better side for much of the second half after they equalised through Dan James.
Silva's side have been one of the surprise packages of the season this term and will spend the World Cup in the top half of the Premier League table. But Palhinha has been left frustrated that they will not be sitting higher than ninth over the break.
The midfielder was named man of the match by Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville. And he was left feeling that he should have also been celebrating a statement win over the Red Devils.
"No words can explain what me and my teammates feel in this moment. We are really disappointed with the result because I think we deserved to win this game," Palhinha told Sky Sports.
"We did our best and we didn't deserve this result. But we need to keep strong. When you play a team like United, you know you need to be concentrated for the whole 90 minutes. It's the little details, you know?
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"In the last minute, like against City. It's really disappointing. We will keep fighting and give our best for the rest of the season. Football is like this, sometimes the best team doesn't win."
Boss Silva was also left feeling that Fulham should have taken more from their clash with United. But he did concede that his side had been punished for losing their focus at a crucial moment.
"It's really tough. A cruel game for us. Unfortunately the second in a row against two Manchester sides, even if the last game was slightly different. The way we played, the way we performed, we deserved more from the game," he told BBC Sport.
"We have to learn from the moments because we can never lose the focus against these types of sides. We lost it in some moments, they can punish you. United came here and they play almost all the moments in counter-attack trying to explore.
"It's tough to take because I think we did OK first half and the second half was really good for ourselves. We were probably the team closer to doing something more and then came the late goal which punished us.
"This is the Premier League and if you lose focus then in one second they can punish you. This is the reality and you have to learn."
Fulham will now have a break of more than a month before they are back in Premier League action. That return will come on Boxing Day when they travel to Crystal Palace, looking to secure their place in the top half.
