Fulham lost to Chelsea in frustrating fashion on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues felt like they were there to be gotten at during the SW6 derby, but as much as Fulham huffed and puffed, they couldn’t breach the Chelsea defence.
Fulham worked very hard during this game, but it was to no avail.
The game was ultimately decided by a penalty, but there was a refereeing decision during the game that was even more controversial than the call to give the spot kick.
Indeed, Malo Gusto made a studs-up challenge on Willian in the first-half, and got away with just a yellow card.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game (13/1/24 2:55PM), Marco Silva has shared his verdict on this call and he’s suggested in no uncertain terms that Gusto should’ve been sent off.
Gusto should’ve gone
Silva shared his verdict on the controversial call.
“We have to talk about the red card, it’s a red card. Clear for Gusto. It’s difficult to understand that things can’t be consistent at the level we all are. The Premier League is the Premier League and in 10 moments like that nine so far has been a red card, but this afternoon it wasn’t a red card. It was a clear dangerous tackle putting the player in trouble in the situation, for me it’s a clear red card, the VAR checked and for this time they didn’t give it,’ Silva said.
Seen them given
We can absolutely understand where Silva is coming from here.
Now, we’re not saying that Gusto’s challenge came with any intent or that he was trying to hurt Willian, but his studs were up and we have seen those types of challenges given time and time again this season.
Red cards such as Curtis Jones’ against Tottenham earlier this season were given despite being much softer than Gusto’s challenge against Fulham, so we can understand this gripe.
Consistency is all we ask for from our referees, but, sadly, we can’t even get that at the moment.