The first half was even with chances for both teams – James Maddison was closest for us, with further chances to Brennan Johnson and Heung-Min Son, while Guglielmo Vicario denied Sasa Lukic – but Fulham struck the critical opening goal from Rodrigo Muniz just before half-time.

The players looked ready for a reaction in the second half, but then the body blow of a second goal for the home side, Lukic on target, just three minutes in, and when Muniz scored again on the hour, we were left with a mountain to climb.

A flurry of chances followed just after Ange introduced Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and the lively Timo Werner off the bench, but Werner and Johnson couldn’t find the target from close range, and the game was over.

Speaking to the Review Show at Craven Cottage, Ange told us: “It wasn’t great. The first half was okay. I thought we had had enough of the game, and I was pretty disappointed with some of our front-third stuff and general control of the game, but once they scored their second goal, we seemed to lose our way, and I was also disappointed with that aspect.

“From our perspective, we know that when we bring our intensity and tempo, irrespective of who we’re playing against, we’re still very competitive. You’re not going to win all the time, but I just thought we didn’t have that in the second half tonight.”

Asked about Radu Dragusin’s full debut alongside Cuti Romero in central defence, Ange replied: “It’s not about individuals, it’s about the collective, I don’t think anyone in that dressing room is happy with the way things went tonight, certainly not me.”