Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri said his side controlled the first half of their loss to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The Eagles secured the victory with goals from Luka Milivojevic and Jeffrey Schlupp either side of the half-time, running out 2-0 winners over the Cottagers on home soil.
Palace opened the scoring through Milivojevic’s first-half penalty, which was awarded following a blatant handball from right-back Cyrus Christie, a turning point in the game according to Ranieri.
“The first half was good until the penalty, we had the match in our hands. We controlled the match. The penalty changed the match,” the Italian told the BBC, before admitting Palace were the better side.
“They deserved to win in the second half, they were better than us. They had three or four chances – well done to Roy.”
Ranieri said the plan was to get the ball crossed into Aleksandar Mitrovic as often as possible but lamented the poor quality of ball coming his way.
“The service to Mitrovic was not good enough. We spoke a lot about crosses, crosses, crosses. I tried to do something – I put another striker on but it wasn’t good.
“We were in trouble from the beginning but we will continue to be positive, be strong. It’s important to be optimistic. We have a target in our mind.”
