If any manager had reason to be frustrated with the officiating after West Ham United beat Fulham at Craven Cottage, it was Nuno Espirito Santo, not Marco Silva.
But, in an irate post-match press conference, the prickly Portuguese took aim at a series of VAR decisions. Marco Silva felt Mateus Fernandes was lucky to avoid a red card when Josh King tumbled on the edge of West Ham United’s penalty area.
The Fulham boss also claimed that the overturned penalty awarded against Taty Castellanos early in the second half should have stood.
What on earth was Marco Silva watching? 🤪
Fulham boss thinks Fernandes should've seen red… 🟥
As one rather bemused Talking Point user wonders aloud on Hammers News’ official Facebook page, ‘were we watching the same game?’
Marco Silva’s VAR criticism baffles West Ham United fans at Fulham
“The man is off his trolley!,” one fan laughs, Silva’s frustrations leaving many of a claret and blue persuasion wondering if the manager’s marbles have been misplaced.
“Is he serious?” another asks.
‘Rose tinted glasses’, indeed. Specsavers are calling, Marco. You’re due for a check-up apparently.
Silva lambasted VAR official John Brooks, feeling that ‘the game [would have been] completely different’ had the visitors been reduced to ten men around the 40th minute mark.
He’s right, of course. Not every team can perform as well as Newcastle did last night with ten men.
What Silva is conveniently overlooking, though, is that Josh King actually fouled Mateus Fernandes rather than the other way around. The Portuguese playmaker managed to squeeze his foot between King and the ball, the Fulham attacker kicking through Fernandes and tumbling to the floor.
It was a similar situation regarding the spot-kick captain Tom Cairney felt he should have been awarded shortly before the ‘incredible’ Crysencio Summerville scored West Ham’s winner. Again, Castellanos narrowly missed fouling the Fulham man and instead nicked the ball away at the last second.
“Marco needs to take a leaf out of Nuno’s book,” another fan argues. “He is always calm and very respectful and doesn’t get dragged into controversy when being interviewed.
“[Referee Matt Donohue awarded a] free-kick to Fulham when King clearly kicked Fernandes’ leg. Fulham were awarded a penalty on-field and, again, VAR proved Taty’s tackle never touched the player and that his player kicked the back of Taty’s leg.
“Overall, Marco can have very little to complain about on the crucial decisions in the game.”
When was the last time a West Ham player excited you so much?! 😍
Fulham dodged a penalty in Alex Iwobi handball incident
In fact, the most contentious call of the evening actually went in Fulham’s favour.
Former Premier League official Mike Dean felt West Ham were unfortunate not to be awarded a spot-kick early on as Alex Iwobi leaned into a cross which appeared to hit the top of his arm, rather than the shoulder.
“Err…we should’ve already been 1-0 up from the obvious handball before Summerville scored!” one is keen to point out. “Also, the free kick they had just outside the box from which they were given a golden opportunity [in the Fernandes incident] was not a foul.
“Silva needs to go to Specsavers!
“Another bad loser. We should’ve had a penalty”
“[Questionable decisions] like the clear penalty committed in your box?”
“Marco, watch the replay before having the interview! You can clearly see Fernandes gets the ball. He’s kicked in the back of the leg. I hope you watch it back.”
Two months on from Brighton’s most contentious of stoppage-time equalisers in a 1-1 draw between them and West Ham at the Amex, the visiting fans will have made the short trip home feeling they were due a few decisions in their favour.
“The referee’s decisions were at a very low level in my opinion,” Silva told BBC Sport, his complaints presumably still ringing in the ears of a deafened fourth official.
“And John Brooks with Fulham Football Club, that he was on VAR and he was able to decide against the referee’s decision on the pitch is unbelievable.
“It has been a little bit the story of our season when John Brooks is involved with us. It was very unlucky again, a decision that he took in the [VAR] office. Very difficult to understand mistakes in games against ourselves.
“All the decisions, they were against us.”
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