Fulham boss Marco Silva has paid tribute to striker Rodrigo Muniz, suggesting that he is a great example to everyone at the club.
Fulham hosted Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon and sadly fell to a 2-1 defeat.
An Ollie Watkins brace had Fulham 2-0 down before Rodrigo Muniz restored hope with an opportunistic goal amid slack Villa defending.
Fulham did have chances to level it with Alex Iwobi, Harry Wilson and Adama Traore all had opportunities.
It just wasn’t to be though as Fulham were unable to build on last weekend’s win over Bournemouth.
Rodrigo Muniz praised
The man who got Fulham back into the game was Muniz, a player who has hit a real purple patch.
The Brazilian cost Fulham around £6.8million back in 2021 but he managed just five goals in his first season whilst supporting Aleksandar Mitrovic.
A loan move to Middlesbrough last season didn’t exactly help as Muniz managed just two goals in 18 games.
Few expected Muniz to be a factor this season even after the sale of Mitrovic, with Raul Jimenez arriving and then Armando Broja joining in January.
Muniz has become a surprise package since the end of the January window though, smashing four goals in his last three games.
The 22-year-old can’t stop scoring and boss Marco Silva has now offered praise to the striker on the club’s official website.
When asked about who can replace Joao Palhinha following his 10th booking of the season, Silva highlighted Muniz as a ‘great example’.
Silva believes that Muniz has stepped up perfectly, taking the responsibility with Jimenez out and others in the squad must follow his lead with Palhinha missing against Manchester United and Brighton.
“It is what it is. He’s going to be out and another player has to step in. I think inside our football club, we have a good example with what’s happened last two weeks with Rodrigo,” said Silva.
“When everyone is making a big story about that situation, a player steps into the responsibility to get his chance. And he’s doing really well and he’s helping the team.”
“It has to happen the same with another player that is going to be in João’s position and to play the next games. That’s all he can do, he can take the responsibility and step in and show his quality, because we have quality inside our squad to replace him,” he added.
Jimenez and Broja will be back available soon enough but Muniz has now made himself a real contender for the starting spot in Silva’s side.
Hopefully, this is a real corner turned for Muniz and he can make a long-lasting impact after a relatively slow start to his Fulham career.