Marco Silva slams referee and VAR after ‘horrendous terrible decision’ in Man Utd defeat

Fulham boss Marco Silva was left fuming at the VAR and referee as Manchester United snatched a dramatic 3-2 victory with Benjamin Sesko’s injury-time winner at Old Trafford after the visitors mounted a brave comeback

Fulham manager Marco Silva was livid with the match officials after his team suffered a last-minute defeat to Manchester United, courtesy of an injury-time goal from Benjamin Sesko. The dramatic climax at Old Trafford saw Fulham claw their way back from a 2-0 deficit, only for United to snatch victory in the dying moments.

United had taken a comfortable lead on Sunday afternoon with goals from Casemiro and Matheus Cunha, but Silva’s squad refused to go down without a fight. Raul Jimenez converted a penalty following a foul by Harry Maguire, and Kevin netted a spectacular equaliser in the 91st minute.

However, United immediately retaliated, with Bruno Fernandes setting up Sesko to score a pivotal goal. This ensured that United maintained their flawless record under Michael Carrick’s management, much to Silva’s frustration.

The first goal for United came from a free-kick awarded after VAR consultation. Initially, referee John Brooks had given United a penalty due to Jorge Cuenca’s tackle on Cunha in the box.

However, VAR replays revealed that Cuenca had indeed touched the ball. Instead of overturning the penalty, Brooks altered his decision to a free-kick outside the box as Cuenca had pulled at Cunha’s shirt.

Fernandes delivered a cross which Casemiro headed powerfully past Bernd Leno to open the scoring, leading to Silva receiving a yellow card for his protests.

“The story of the game started with a horrendous terrible decision from John Brooks with the penalty he gave,” Silva raged to Sky Sports. “Horrendous decision from that moment, big, big mistake. It was the first time we saw all the Premier League fans and us coaches and players. We have to take all this frustration to win the next one.”

He added: “The penalty was given by the tackle. After, because the decision was so bad, they found a different foul.

“I feel my players, I feel our fans but we have to respect and the people in charge. I know why the penalty was given. VAR went in a completely different direction to find something to find a free-kick that was not the reason why the penalty was given.”

When questioned whether he had confronted Brooks, Silva responded: “I don’t want get more cards because I want to be on the touchline. I don’t want to speak more.”

VAR became embroiled in the match again, with officials at Stockley Park stepping in to chalk off Cuenca’s second-half strike that would have levelled the score at 2-1. The Fulham defender had netted following two ricocheted attempts, only for Samuel Chukwueze to be deemed offside.

One ruling did favour Fulham, though, with Jimenez being granted a spot-kick after Maguire brought him down whilst attempting to block his effort. His composed penalty brought the visitors back into contention, though it proved meaningless in the end.