Marco Silva bemoaned a ‘mistake’ from the video assistant referee after Malo Gusto got away with only a yellow card following a wild challenge on Willian during Chelsea’s 1-0 win in the SW6 derby this lunchtime.

The Fulham boss was furious that the young defender was only shown a yellow card for his studs-up lunge on the former Chelsea winger, describing it as an obvious error during his post-match press conference following the Whites’ narrow defeat.

Silva said:

“We have to talk about the red card, it has to be a red card for Gusto, it’s difficult to understand how things aren’t consistent. For me it’s a clear red card. It is a mistake from VAR. In my opinion, our opinion, even conversations with the fourth official, it is a red card. We have to be fair with the referee, the moment is really quick. So far in the Premier League, nine out of ten times it is a red card. This afternoon it wasn’t. It’s a mistake from the VAR.”

The Portuguese head coach was pleased with Fulham’s persistence – if not the end result:

“We didn’t start at our best. We had problems to connect our first passes. The reaction was strong by Chelsea but it was more our fault. The first fifteen to twenty minutes wasn’t the best. After we balanced the game. We had moments in the attacking half, a good chance for Wilson. Then it is the penalty. The second half was more broken. We took more risks. We had our moments. Probably we should have been more clinical.

Second half we had some chances, Chelsea had chances, the game was more open. The players gave everything. The support was impressive away from home. It’s a difficult one to take, it’s a disappointing result for us, we want to fight for something different. We did really well in some moments. Some decisions made it complicated.