Fulham manager Marco Silva has criticised the officiating in his side's 2-0 loss to Chelsea, labelling the decision to disallow Josh King's debut goal as 'unbelievable'. The 18-year-old thought he had scored in the 21st minute, but VAR Michael Salisbury instructed referee Rob Jones to review a potential foul by Rodrigo Muniz on Trevoh Chalobah in the buildup. Jones overturned the goal, despite Muniz being in possession when he inadvertently caught Chalobah.
Silva expressed frustration over the timing of Chelsea's opening goal. With a minimum of eight added minutes, Enzo Fernández scored from a corner in the ninth minute. Silva argued the half should have ended earlier, but the referee cited time lost due to talking to a player. Silva claimed the game did not stop for a second, based on his video review.
The match also saw Chelsea awarded a penalty after Ryan Sessegnon handled a cross, which Fernández converted for the second goal. Silva highlighted that before the penalty, there were several potential fouls in his team's favour that were not reviewed, including a stamp on Alex Iwobi and handball by João Pedro. He said the same VAR that penalised Muniz missed these incidents.
Silva refrained from further comment to avoid punishment, stating he wants to be on the bench for the next match. He noted a pattern of decisions against Fulham this season, referencing a controversial goal in their draw with Manchester United. Despite the loss, Silva praised his team's performance, saying they played 'outstanding football' and did not resort to negative tactics.
