Fulham manager, Marco Silva, has hit out at officials after Josh King’s first-half strike was controversially ruled out in his side’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The 18-year-old thought he had netted his first Premier League goal in the 22nd minute, but following a lengthy VAR check by Michael Salisbury, referee Robert Jones disallowed it for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up. The decision left Marco Silva fuming on the touchline and even angrier after the match.
“How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable,” the Portuguese coach told TNT Sports. “VAR is not here to re-referee the game. I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don’t want to be fined.”
Silva also questioned the handling of stoppage time, with eight minutes initially added before Joao Pedro gave Chelsea the lead deep into injury time.
“I would love to explain many things,” he said. “The first goal, eight minutes extra time. After the first corner it was already nine minutes. It is time to stop the game. That is the rules. I asked the referee and he said because we lost time. But I checked the eight minutes. The game didn’t stop.”
His frustration only grew when Enzo Fernández converted a second-half penalty following another VAR intervention. The defeat leaves Fulham winless after three Premier League games, and Silva is questioning how the rules are being applied.
“It’s very difficult. I make mistakes, the referee makes mistakes, but when it is black or white, we cannot see something that is not there,” he added. “For me, it is all about understanding the decision and how they follow the rules.”
While Chelsea celebrated their derby victory, the post-match narrative was dominated by Silva’s anger and his plea for greater consistency from referees and VAR.
The post Marco Silva Slams ‘Unbelievable’ VAR Decision After Fulham’s Derby Defeat At Chelsea appeared first on Naija News.