Fulham boss Marco Silva slams embarrassing penalty call in Liverpool loss
Speaking to BBC’s Match of the Day, Fulham manager Marco Silva has slammed the Premier League officials for awarding Liverpool a penalty in their clash at Anfield on Wednesday night.
The Reds came out winners thanks to a Mohamed Salah penalty, earning Jurgen Klopp and co their fifth straight league win. This keeps them in the hunt for a top-four spot, at least mathematically.
Both teams played an attacking game and went close on several occasions. Bernd Leno and Alisson Becker both were called into action numerous times only for the game to be decided by a single goal.
The decisive moment came in the 38th minute when Darwin Nunez was brought down by Isa Diop in the Fulham penalty area. Salah made no mistake from the spot and scored his second penalty in as many games.
One man who was not amused with the referee’s decision was Silva. The former Everton man termed the decision ’embarrassing’ and called out the officials for their incompetency. It is clear to see what he thinks of the decision.
“That penalty, when you lose a game in football to that penalty, is embarrassing, I have to say. When you have the referee then the VAR to help the referee, it is embarrassing.”
He went on to insinuate that Nunez was already airborne before the tackle. Silva did not speak to the referee regarding it nor to his credit clash with rival managers or players. He is also unlikely to be punished by the FA as his name isn’t Jurgen Klopp.
“I didn’t speak with the referee. I think my players and everyone that is honest will say the same. I will listen over the next few days if it is a harsh decision but for me it is clearly not a penalty. The player is already in the air.”
Football is decided by the smallest of margins at times and on Wednesday, that was just the case. Silva can complain all he wants but we will happily take the three points. Given the run-ins we have been subjected to regarding referees in recent times, it probably comes as a shock that we got the rub of the decision.
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As for Silva’s claims, we would like to post two questions. Did Issa Diop win the ball over Nunez? No. Was there contact between Dip and Nunez? Yes. Sounds like a textbook penalty to us. Soft maybe but still a penalty. So go figure.
