Marco Silva seethed at ‘incredible’ refereeing decisions that saw Fulham midfielder Josh King denied two penalties in the first half of their 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa this afternoon.
Teenage midfielder King was booked for simulation for the second week in a row having raced onto a through ball from Adama Traore and been caught by Emiliano Martinez in the box. The officials adjudged that King was already heading to ground before the Villa goalkeeper made contact with his foot, whilst Matty Cash escaped punished for handling King’s goal-bound shot shortly afterwards because he was arm was deemed to be in a natural position.
Silva told Sky Sports after the final whistle:
“I’ve watched the moments back and, for me, they are incredible. They will try to explain it but we cannot understand. It is very difficult for me to say that the Emi Martinez [incident] is not a penalty. If a player is taken out inside the box, it is a penalty everywhere in the world. Don’t try to educate Josh King because we can do it inside our football club.
“I want to question them [the officials]. I would like them to explain how it was in a normal body position and if it was then okay, but I want to ask about Ryan Sessegnon against Chelsea, which was explained about how it was a penalty. It has been very difficult for us so I’ve started the conversations [inside the dressing room] about what we can control. The other calls in the past six games are too much for Fulham and we cannot control that.”
