Marco Silva slams ’embarrassing’ Liverpool decision in Fulham loss

Marco Silva’s reaction after Wednesday’s Liverpool-Fulham Premier League match

Furious Fulham manager Marco Silva has pointed the finger at the referees over the “shameful” way Liverpool managed a narrow 1-0 win against his side.

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal from the penalty spot six minutes before half-time as the Reds lifted the Premier League for the fifth time in succession on Wednesday night.

Referee Stuart Attwell awarded the penalty after ruling Darwin Nunez had been cut by Issa Diop after he cleared the ball from the Fulham defender’s foot, a decision backed by VAR Tony Harrington.

However, Silva was unimpressed by the call and believes Nunez made the best of the altercation.

“Going into half-time and losing 1-0, the way they scored, I have to say it’s embarrassing,” said the former Everton manager, who recently served a two-match ban after facing Manchester United sent off. in the FA Cup. “To come to half-time, to lose 1-0 the way they scored, I have to say it’s embarrassing,” said the former Everton manager, who is recently serving a two-game suspension after being sent off against Manchester United in the FA Cup. .

“Today in football it’s hard to understand giving a penalty like that after VAR didn’t take that (away) penalty. I won’t say anything else because after that it will be difficult for me and I don’t want to create any more problems for myself, but it is almost impossible to understand this punishment.

“No, I haven’t spoken to the referee. It won’t change anything. Why am I going to talk to him? I know from what I will hear over the next few days it was a tough decision, when Darwin touched the ball he started to dive but after touching his left leg with Issa they will say it was difficult but the referee gave in and after that the VAR cannot take (win).

“It’s always the same conversation. I didn’t speak to the referee at the end or at half time. I had a few words with the fourth mate.

“Issa told me it’s clearly not a penalty. Issa spoke to the referee in the second half and I also know what the referee said to Issa. For us there is clearly no penalty and the VAR has to take that penalty or not let go of that referee decision. The referee made a mistake and the VAR is there to make that decision and not let the penalty go through. This is clear to me.”

As Liverpool dominated possession, Alisson Becker made two good saves from Fulham striker Carlos Vinicius in each half.

And Silva added: “Overall we deserved a lot more from the match, that’s clear to me. We had some problems without the ball, they created problems in certain areas and they arrived too easily in those areas.

“We did well in the first 25 minutes, when we took the ball away from the press and attacked from the other side, we had some good times. But the final decision and the finish line we had to decide differently. “It was a great save from Alisson to stop Vinicius in the first half, but Liverpool had good chances in the first half and more ball possession than us.

“Our reaction in the second half was good and there were some good moments from Liverpool too. We had some good counter-moves and two clear chances, a great save from Alisson one-on-one with Vinicius and in the last minute Bobby’s (Decordova-Reid) chance.”