Leicester City forward James Maddison believes his side were “not hungry enough” after their Premier League survival hopes suffered a blow with a 5-3 defeat at Fulham.
Leicester remain just above the drop zone on goal difference with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and Everton both playing later on Monday.
“[I’m] hurting, this was a big game for us and we were not at it,” Maddison told BBC Match of the Day.
“We didn’t start the game well enough. We need to do the basics well.”
Fulham opened the scoring through a Willian free-kick before strikes from Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney powered them into a 3-0 half-time lead.
Cairney added another after the restart before Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back for the visitors, who then saw Jamie Vardy miss a penalty in the 66th minute.
Willian re-established Fulham’s four-goal lead with another fine strike before Maddison netted Leicester’s second with a spot-kick and Barnes scored a late third.
“We were not hungry enough to want to win the game,” added Maddison.
“It is tough. No easy game in the Premier League, it is a cliche but so true. We will keep fighting, we will keep trying to put it right.”
Woeful Leicester booed off at half-time
Leicester are desperate for points and, with matches against Liverpool and Newcastle still to come, Foxes fans would have circled Fulham away as a must-win fixture in their battle to avoid the drop.
But against a side who had lost three of their previous four matches at home, they were woeful in the opening 45 minutes.
“The first half was nowhere near good enough,” Leicester boss Dean Smith told BBC Match of the Day. “We gave away goals we shouldn’t give away at this level.
“I didn’t see that coming. We have been fairly resolute in the five games we’ve had with the exception of Everton.”
The Foxes fell behind in the 10th minute when keeper Daniel Iversen misjudged Willian’s wide free-kick and the ball bounced underneath him before nestling in the bottom corner.
Vinicius’ goal finished off a fine counter-attacking move before Cairney scored on just his third league start of the season with an impressive curling finish.
Trailing by three goals at the break, Leicester were booed off by the visiting fans and the mood only got bleaker when Cairney added Fulham’s fourth in the 51st minute.
However, Barnes gave his side a glimmer of hope, before Vardy was caught by Bernd Leno midway through the second half – but when the striker missed the resulting spot-kick, any thoughts of an unlikely comeback ended.
Fulham soon added a fifth against a porous defence, with Leicester having now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past 20 games, an unwanted Premier League record.
There were ironic jeers when Maddison found the bottom corner from the spot in the 81st minute after he had been caught by Joao Palhinha in the box.
Barnes’ 89th-minute strike made the scoreline look more respectable, but in truth the Foxes never looked like securing anything from the match.
Superb Fulham equal club record
Inspired by their impressive first-half showing, Fulham have equalled a club record of 14 wins in a single Premier League season.
“We clearly deserved the three points and it should have been much more comfortable,” Fulham boss Marco Silva told BBC Match of the Day.
“Great team performance. Great moments of football, great goals. The way we played from the first minute was really good.”
There was a party atmosphere at a sun-kissed Craven Cottage as Silva’s side bounced back from narrow defeats by Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool.
The Cottagers completed a top-flight double over Leicester for the first time since 2004, thanks mainly to the excellent attacking work of Willian and Cairney.
Fulham remain 10th, two points behind west London rivals Brentford.
They need five points from their final three games to equal their record top-flight points tally of 53, from the 2008-09 season.
Fulham face Southampton away in their next match on Saturday before taking on Crystal Palace and Manchester United, while Leicester host Liverpool next Monday.
Player of the match
WillianWillian
Fulham
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Squad number20Player nameWillian
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Squad number10Player nameCairney
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Squad number8Player nameWilson
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Squad number30Player nameCarlos Vinicius
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Squad number26Player nameJoĆ£o Straw
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Squad number6Player nameReed
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Squad number33Player nameRobinson
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Squad number17Player nameLeno
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Squad number2Player nameTete
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Squad number11Player nameSolomon
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Squad number7Player nameKebano
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Squad number14Player nameThe Cordova Reid
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Squad number28Player nameLukic
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Squad number31Player nameDiop
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Squad number5Player nameDuffy
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Squad number4Player nameIndeed
Leicester City
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Squad number7Player nameBarnes
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Squad number10Player nameMaddison
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Squad number9Player nameVardy
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Squad number4Player nameSoyuncu
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Squad number31Player nameIversen
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Squad number27Player nameChestnuts
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Squad number26Player nameTalking
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Squad number20Player nameClick
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Squad number8Player nameTielemans
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Squad number3Player nameField
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Squad number22Player nameDewsbury-Hall
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Squad number16Player nameKristiansen
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Squad number37Player nametete
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Squad number33Player nameThomas
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Squad number42Player nameSoumare
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Squad number25Player namePatience
Line-ups
Fulham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 17Leno
- 2Tete
- 4Indeed
- 31DiopSubstituted forDuffyat 77′minutes
- 33Robinson
- 26JoĆ£o Straw
- 6ReedSubstituted forLukicat 77′minutes
- 8WilsonSubstituted forKebanoat 82′minutes
- 10CairneySubstituted forThe Cordova Reidat 82′minutes
- 20WillianSubstituted forSolomonat 82′minutes
- 30Alves Morais
Substitutes
- 1Native
- 5Duffy
- 7Kebano
- 11Solomon
- 12Cedric Soares
- 14The Cordova Reid
- 28Lukic
- 38Harris
- 49Dibley-Dias
Leicester
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 31Iversen
- 27Chestnuts
- 3Field
- 4Soyuncu
- 16KristiansenSubstituted forThomasat 76′minutes
- 8TielemansSubstituted forPatienceat 60′minutes
- 42SoumareBooked at 70minsSubstituted forDewsbury-Hallat 76′minutes
- 26TalkingSubstituted forteteat 45′minutes
- 10MaddisonBooked at 58mins
- 7BarnesBooked at 24mins
- 9VardySubstituted forClickat 76′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Ward
- 6Evans
- 15Souttar
- 20Click
- 21Ricardo Pereira
- 22Dewsbury-Hall
- 25Patience
- 33Thomas
- 37tete
- Referee:
- Robert Jones
- Attendance:
- 24,442
Live Text
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Match ends, Fulham 5, Leicester City 3.
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Second Half ends, Fulham 5, Leicester City 3.
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Foul by Kenny Tete (Fulham).
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Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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JoĆ£o Palhinha (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City).
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Hand ball by Carlos VinĆcius (Fulham).
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Goal! Fulham 5, Leicester City 3. Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Patson Daka.
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Attempt missed. Shane Duffy (Fulham) header from the left side of the six yard box misses to the left. Assisted by Tosin Adarabioyo following a set piece situation.
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Attempt missed. Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Neeskens Kebano with a cross following a set piece situation.
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Kenny Tete (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City).
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Attempt blocked. Sasa Lukic (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Neeskens Kebano.
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Carlos VinĆcius (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Clar (Leicester City).
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Substitution, Fulham. Neeskens Kebano replaces Harry Wilson.
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Substitution, Fulham. Bobby De Cordova-Reid replaces Tom Cairney.
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Substitution, Fulham. Manor Solomon replaces Willian.
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Goal! Fulham 5, Leicester City 2. James Maddison (Leicester City) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
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Penalty conceded by JoĆ£o Palhinha (Fulham) after a foul in the penalty area.
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