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Marco Silva praised the impact of Emile Smith Rowe in a Fulham shirt after he scored on his home debut during the 2-1 win over Leicester in the Premier League.

Smith Rowe fired home a fine shot past Foxes goalkeeper Mads Hermansen in the 18th minute to open his goalscoring record for the Cottagers.

Despite Wout Faes’ equalizer, Fulham still managed to win. Alex Iwobi gave the home team three points.

Silva was impressed by 24-year-old Smith Rowe, who Fulham signed from Arsenal this summer for a reported £27million.

Silva said at a post-match press conference: “It’s always important (to score the first goal) when you sign a talent like him, it’s important to have an impact.

“We signed him not just for now but for a long time, it was important for him, even though he has experience. Last season he didn’t play football, I think it was also his first goal in the Premier League in two years.

“He settled in pre-season, it was important to get a bit more confidence and he got a good finish. When we sign a player for that position they have to be decisive, he got the conclusion to finish in the right way.

“He is still far from his best physically, he will improve, he will adapt more, it was nice to see that he was decisive.”

Fulham’s second goal came after an individual display from Antonee Robinson, with the left-back delivering a high pass and Iwobi firing home the winning goal.

Silva praised the defender’s influence in helping his side bounce back from last week’s late defeat to Manchester United.

He added: “It was a great pass from Robinson and that’s something we wanted to exploit on the left.

“He’s impressive, he’s improved as a player, he was one of our best players last season and he never stops.

“The way he started last week shows that he is a great athlete and he can continue to improve.”

Steve Cooper praised his players’ work ethic for what was a “disappointing” result for the newly promoted side.

He said: “We thought the game was ours at half-time, it changed a bit and we couldn’t take advantage of that. We had tired legs and then their goal came.

“We pushed hard and showed a lot of resilience in the first two games and started fighting. We are really disappointed that we lost.”