Marco Silva raged at the officials’ failure to show a red card to Chelsea defender Malo Gusto after Fulham fell to a 1-0 defeat in Saturday’s West London derby at Stamford Bridge.
Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty was the difference between the two west London neighbours, the former Manchester City man converting from the spot after Issa Diop fouled Raheem Sterling.
However, Chelsea were perhaps fortunate to keep all 11 men on the pitch when Gusto caught Willian with a somewhat reckless challenge just 10 minutes before Palmer’s penalty.
The Chelsea right-back was shown a yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor and VAR Michael Salisbury failed to recommend a pitchside review despite Gusto appearing to be out of control as his studs made contact with Willian’s ankle.
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While Silva understood the referee’s leniency throughout a highly competitive derby match, he hit out at a lack of consistency after Gusto avoided his second red card of the season.
“It was a derby. There were a lot of challenges. The referee started the game as he does normally, letting the game flow, as a derby should be,” Silva told TNT Sports.
“We have to talk about the red card for Gusto, it was clear. It is hard to see how things aren’t consistent at the level that we’re at. This is the Premier league.
“In 10 of those moments, nine times it is a red card. It is a clear red card for me. VAR checked and this time they didn’t give it.”
Defeat in the SW6 derby. pic.twitter.com/QtxK3WENtm
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) January 13, 2024
Silva also claimed fourth official Simon Hooper agreed with his assessment of the tackle, saying: “I haven’t spoken to the officials. I don’t want to say what the fourth official said to me.
“He has the same opinion as me, but it is not for him to say, it is for the VAR to decide. It is a normal decision from the referee but the help should come from the VAR.”
Fulham have now lost four of their last five Premier League games after winning three of their previous four, but Silva refused to question his players’ fight after their latest defeat.
“Chelsea started better than us but after the first 15 minutes we started to balance the game, both sides had moments. After that, we started to create some problems,” he said.
“We tried to react in the second half. They had chances, we had chances. The game was more open and they had more space to show their quality. I have no words for my players.
“It is a difficult one to take and a frustrating result for us. We always want to fight and we fought again. The VAR decision made a huge impact on the game.”
Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty proves to be the difference ????#CHEFUL pic.twitter.com/wTH35spGNQ
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 13, 2024
