Fulham manager Marco Silva could not comprehend referee Chris Kavanagh’s decisions as he was sent off in Sunday’s dramatic FA Cup defeat by Manchester United.
The Portuguese was among three of a Fulham persuasion to be shown a red card at Old Trafford. He was dismissed for his complaints ahead of the decision to send Willian off for his goal-line handball.
Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was also given his marching orders during a crazy minute at Old Trafford. Whilst Silva preferred to focus on the game itself initially, he could not resist criticising official Kavanagh for his decisions throughout the 90 minutes.
Speaking to ITV Sport, he said: "Let's talk about all the game and not just one moment. Until the penalty moment and the red cards, we were clearly the best team on the pitch. We were the best team on the pitch, clearly. For me it was a decision the VAR can take.
"What is difficult to understand is why the two moments in the box in the first half one of them is a clear penalty and nobody checks, nobody sees."
Fulham’s implosion followed a hugely impressive opening hour for the London side at Old Trafford. They had led through Mitrovic’s lethal finish and but for a series of stunning saves from David De Gea, could have had a larger advantage.
It all went wrong after Mitrovic’s inexplicable shove on Kavanagh - something that Silva was highly critical of. "In that moment, he [Mitrovic] has to control his emotions much more like all of us should," he said.
"You have to keep the emotional balance, of course. Sometimes, it is not easy but it is our obligation to do it. It's been a tough season in some moments for us. We know that we are Fulham, we don't have the same importance in football as some others but it's difficult for us to deal with some situation."
United will face Brighton in the semi-finals at Wembley, and Silva - whose interview was cut short during ITV's coverage - suggested that it was a missed chance for his side before launching into another rant in the direction of the referee.
Asked if it was a missed opportunity, he replied: “Yes, definitely. On the pitch, we were the best team until that moment.
“It's difficult for us to understand. Chris was in a game we played away at West Ham where we lost with two clear handballs, we received the apology because of the mistakes. The last game at Leeds in the FA Cup it was him again. And for a game that is the quarter-finals it's him again, it's difficult to understand.
“Of course, we respect that he's a top referee in this country, I accept that, but unfortunately for us, with us, it's been really unhappy this season."
Pressed on the penalty decision, Silva added: "You need to talk about the three [possible] penalties because you are just talking about one moment. You want to talk about the other moments in the box? Why don't you ask me about the other two moments as well? If you want I can talk about that moment [Willian's handball] but I talk about the others as well."
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Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Silva would similarly continue with his unhappiness at the use - or lack thereof - of VAR during the game.
Silva said: “It is a shame the ref wasn’t shown VAR for the first-half moments. It is difficult to be Fulham at Old Trafford, the VAR feels the pressure too. For us it is difficult to understand why they didn’t do the same."
On his own red card, he added: “Even if I haven’t done something special, I have to control myself. I didn’t say anything special to the ref, he didn’t listen and showed me the red card. It is a moment to control my emotions. The game was decided in the moment.
“If he wants to give me the red card I have to accept it because he didn’t listen to me at all. As I left my area I have to accept it."
Fulham are now forced to focus on their fight to secure a European spot. Silva praised his side for their performance and claimed that the referee’s decision decided the game.
“It was a really important moment for us,” he added. “We showed this afternoon how we deserve to be in the semi-finals. I shouldn't get red card, other moments we cannot control. Unfortunately, these situations made a huge impact on the game.”
