Marco Silva was furious after Barnsley were avoided a controversial penalty in this afternoon’s draw with Fulham.
Referee Tim Robinson punished Tosin Adarabioyo for fouling Carlton Morris just before half time, but the television replays conclusively showed what contact there was between the pair saw the Barnsley striker tugging Adarabioyo’s shirt. Silva told his post-match press conference:
“In the first 10 minutes we created two or three moments where we should score, but at the end of the first half they score after a clear mistake from the referee. I’ve seen the moment 15 times, and I can’t see one moment where Tosin makes contact with the player inside the box. I don’t understand, even why he took so long to decide whether it’s a penalty or not. It’s difficult for us to understand. In the second half I saw our players fighting until the end. It was difficult to play at our best level but we equalised and had some more chances as well. It’s one more point for us.”
Silva was pleased with how his side responded to that setback, earning a point through a sublime late strike from Harry Wilson.
“We reacted well. The desire and ambition was there, and they did their best. The good thing was that I saw our players fighting and believing in themselves. Even if we didn’t perform at our best level, they fought until the end.
It’s a fantastic moment from Harry and he deserved more with the other chance that he had, because he deserved to score the winning goal. Everyone expected in that second moment that he would score. He did brilliantly with the first one. That’s football. The main thing for me is that he was there in the right moment to score and I’m sure in three days he will have another chance to score. The most important thing for me is that it was a very good delivery from Fabio, and he was in the right spot to create the chance.”
If Barnsley stay up by a point then the ref in this match needs to hang his head in shame. Amongst some pretty crap Championship refs I’ve seen this season, this fella stands out as even worse
It must be frustrating when you train all week, and then some imposter in a black uniform, comes along and guesses. Unbelievably bad refereeing. He should hang his head in shame
I’m almost looking forward to VAR. What was the ref trying to work out before he pointed to the spot?
There was no contact so what did the ref see – it has to be nothing – yet he still gave a penalty. This is not the first crap decision like this we have seen during the season, all have not only cost us goals, but points – at least 5 to my reckoning. Dave has made a good point above – these decisions not only affect us. And as for the general excuse – it levels up over the course of a season – covers up incompetence. The refereeing body needs to come clean and accept blame rather then hiding behind a disrepute charge. At least they are wearing the right colour shirt for that!