Fulham manager Marco Silva has singled out striker Raul Jimenez for praise after another disappointing defeat against Aston Villa yesterday.
Silva was speaking to the club’s official website off the back of a 3-1 loss at Villa Park yesterday.
It was another case of individual errors costing Fulham as they continued to slip towards the relegation zone.
Antonee Robinson turned the ball into his own net to give the hosts the lead before John McGinn doubled their advantage.
Ollie Watkins ended the game as a contest in the second half and should have easily scored more than once yesterday.
There was a silver lining for Fulham though as did improve in the second half and gave themselves a lifeline in the final 20 minutes.
Raul Jimenez finally broke his duck in front of goal against Aston Villa and Marco Silva believes this will take plenty of pressure off the Mexican.
The £5.5m forward might not have been signed as a direct Aleksandar Mitrovic replacement but that’s what he’s ended up being.
That’s despite his poor recent record in front of goal as it had been 33 league matches since he had last found the back of the net.
Fulham fans will be desperate for this to be the start of Jimenez showing the form that made him such a lethal striker during his time at Wolves.
Silva praises Jimenez after Villa goal
Speaking about the 32-year-old forward, Silva said: “For sure it’s going to be not so heavy the next time that he’s going to be on the pitch.
“It’s a tough one to go such a long time without scoring in Premier League.
“Unfortunately for us, it didn’t give the chance for us to add points with his goal.
“But I’m sure if he keeps working like he’s doing, if he keeps doing his best, and we keep delivering for him as well, in the future he’s going to score goals that can count towards those points for us.”
Despite Jimenez’s goal against Aston Villa, Silva might still be keen on bringing in a new striker in January.
They’ve been linked with his namesake, Santiago Gimenez, but it might not be an easy deal to negotiate considering he’s playing in the Champions League right now.
Stylistically, Jimenez is similar to Mitrovic but hasn’t reached the same levels as the Serbian yet.
He’ll be kept in check by Carlos Vinicius and Rodrigo Muniz when he’s fit again but neither player is a consistent top-flight goal scorer.
Jimenez at least has that potential and needs to show it after the international break.