Fulham manager Marco Silva was left furious after seeing his side denied what he believed to be a legitimate opener in their 2-0 loss to Chelsea.
Joshua King thought he had given the visitors an early advantage in Saturday’s Premier League clash, but VAR intervened when referee officials ruled that Rodrigo Muniz had committed a foul in the build-up.
Speaking afterwards, Silva did not hold back in his assessment of the decision.
“As someone who loves football, I feel sad. Just sad,” the Fulham boss admitted.
“In the first half I saw my team playing outstanding football. Playing football – not trying to be fake, not parking the bus or something like that. All the decisions from the VAR and the referee made a massive impact on the game. The second half was not at the level I would like to see from our team.
“After all the controversy against Man Utd last week… Similar incidents for the opposition and for us, they decide in a different way. We are here to learn and to understand things but for me it is almost impossible for me to feel it is going to be balanced in the end.
“To disallow a goal like that is unbelievable. Unbelievable. We have all the meetings with the people in charge; we try to see their direction. One of the main things was: ‘VAR is not here to referee the game’.”
Silva admitted he was reluctant to go any further in fear of disciplinary action, but his frustration was clear: “I would prefer to say nothing more as I will be punished.
“I want to be on the bench for the next game, I don’t want to pay fines. But it has been difficult with so many decisions against us at the start of the season. Let’s move on.”
Pressed further on his frustrations, the Portuguese coach expanded on another controversial moment.
“I would love to explain many things. For example, the first goal. There were eight minutes of added time, they score in the ninth. He has to stop the game, it’s the rules. I asked the referee, he told me that we lost time because he was talking to a player. I checked the video – the game didn’t stop one second. What can I say? Chelsea won the game and we move on.
“I make mistakes, the referee can make mistakes. The Premier League is so intense, so tough, but when it is black and white you cannot see something that was not there.
“I would like to understand the decisions and how they followed the protocols. That’s the main thing for me because to have these decisions in two games in eight days.. it’s too much.”
