New Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore was left shaking his head after his side dropped at home to Fulham 1-0.
The match was largely a stalemate, even dominated possession-wise by the home side at some stages, but the Whites took their one opportunity as Pajtim Kasami headed home the winner early in the second half.
Altidore believes his side can perform better, but ultimately they need to focus on taking advantage of opportunities.
“This is how this league is,” the American told Sunderland’s official website. “One chance, one goal and they go home with the three points. “We need to do a better job of not giving away anything. It’s difficult at this level but we need to do better, create more chances and try to bury them.
“This is the best league in the world and that’s why it can be so cruel.”
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Despite the match which fiery Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio claimed his side were not “nasty” enough, it wasn’t all negative for Altidore, and they’ll be looking to bring though with them moving forward.
“At the same time, we have to take the positives away from the game, move on to the next match and try to get three points.”
Jozy remained professional concerning his own performance.
“I thought I did alright, but there’s always lots of room to improve” Altidore said. “It’s tough to look at the positives when you lose but I thought we created some chances.”