It is rare that Marco Silva castigates his players but the Fulham boss was scathing about the generosity of the defending that led to Aston Villa’s win at Craven Cottage yesterday. He was right to describe the concession of two disappointing goals as unforgiveable – and the mistakes were even more maddening because the Whites were otherwise well in the game against one of the country’s most consistent sides this season.

Antonee Robinson has had a terrific couple of campaigns as Fulham have proven much more competitive in the top tier than even our most ardent supporter might have hoped for, but there was no legislating for the American’s brain fade yesterday. The home side had just recovered from a start where they had been worried by Ollie Watkins’ pace and got a foothold in the contest when a very strange throw in gave the England international a glorious sight of goal. Robinson’s throw was neither into space for Willian or to the feet of either centre half, putting the hosts immediately on the back foot.

The error seemed to knock Robinson’s confidence for a while as well. The impact was noticeable as Leon Bailey beat him all ends up before bending a shot onto the frame of goal – and his crossing only recovered when he capitalised on Matty Cash switching off to set up another goal for Rodrigo Muniz with an instinctive touch before the ball went over the byline. By then, of course, Fulham were 2-0 down having given the in-form Watkins another opportunity to demonstrate his prowess in front of goal.

The Whites were all over the place for the second goal – with a dozy Issa Diop most culpable for wanting more time on the ball in his own final third. The philosophy of playing out from the back has reaped real rewards since Silva took over at the club three seasons ago, but even a possession-based approach demands that central defenders analyse the risks before taking an extra touch. The Frenchman then compounded his initial mistake by getting too tight to Watkins – and it really felt like that was that.

Fulham didn’t collapse in the face of adversity but made a game of it, which was the real positive to come out of the afternoon. Muniz has suddenly – and slightly unbelievably for my money – turned into the sort of penalty box predator we’ve been searching for: he has to receive huge plaudits for improving his output, alongside Silva and the coaching staff who have obviously worked hard on his raw potential at Motspur Park. On another day, the Whites might have mustered a point, especially with Alex Iwobi and Adama Traore going close late on.

There was a pleasing return from the bench for Calvin Bassey and Iwobi after their AFCON exertions. Both, whatever the Nigerian keyboard worries claim, made a tangible difference to the Super Eagles’ route to the final in Ivory Coast, and they have been crucial to Fulham’s best form of the season. Iwobi lifted Fulham’s performance in the second half yesterday and might have scored when he got free in the box. There was even an encouraging cameo from Sasa Lukic, with the Serbian’s driving run and a peach of a pass from Muniz setting up Traore for a chance the substitute should have done better with.

Silva can take heart from the fact that Fulham’s threadbare squad shouldn’t be significantly stretched for the remainder of the season. The encouraging thing from this defeat is that, despite shooting ourselves in the foot twice, Fulham pushed Unai Emery’s side all the way. Having the likes of Bassey, Iwobi and Traore available will give the head coach options off the bench that have been lacking in the past and they will be more options in attack as well once Armando Broja has recovered from the illness that ruled him out of contention yesterday. There are reasons to be cheerful – even if the overriding emotion immediately after the final whistle was one of immense disappointment.

Any analysis of yesterday’s game cannot conclude with a word on the referee. Lewis Smith was the third Premier League debutant to officiate a Fulham fixture this season – and he was comfortably the worst. There was a bemusing moment early in the second period where he failed to penalise Emi Martinez for clearing handling a backpass but that paled into insignificance with the ridiculous decision to award a goalkick when Muniz’s shot deflected off a Villa defender. Regrettably, the referee had lost control of the contest long before the end, when he booked five Fulham players in the final eight minutes but failed to caution Martinez for timewasting despite a number of warnings for the time the Argentinian was taking over the goal kicks.

Smith clearly wasn’t the reason that Fulham lost this game, but if the PGMOL are serious about improving officiating in this country – rather than just becoming a cartel for underperforming referees – they will need to look at the process by which they allocate top flight fixtures. We hear all the time about the Premier League product and that it is the best league in the world. If the Premier League is the pinnacle of the English game, how do eight EFL matches represent an appropriate apprenticeship? Nobody is well served by seeing young officials flounder on the big stage, least of all Smith himself.