Fulham manager Marco Silva was less than pleased with one question a journalist put to him after his side’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors claimed an early lead at Anfield courtesy of a goal from ex-Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira. Andy Robertson was then shown a red card for a last-man challenge on Harry Wilson, giving Arne Slot’s side a mountain to climb as they stared down the barrel of a first defeat since the narrow 1-0 loss against Nottingham Forest in September.
Cody Gakpo scored an important equaliser early in the second half, but Liverpool were once again dealt a devastating blow as Fulham substitute Rodrigo Muniz put them 2-1 up late on. Fortunately for the Reds, Diogo Jota clinched an equaliser in the final five minutes of normal time in what was his first appearance since picking up a rib injury against Chelsea in October.
While Robertson’s red card was hardly contentious after VAR cleared any offside shouts, many Liverpool supporters felt Fulham also could have been reduced to 10 men following reckless challenges from Pereira and Issa Diop early in the game.
Both tackles, one on Robertson and one on Ryan Gravenberch, were checked and subsequently cleared by VAR. It was agreed only a yellow card was warranted, much to the frustration of those of a Liverpool persuasion.
When Silva was asked about the challenges from his two players in a post-match interview with Premier League Productions, he far from happy with the question, describing them both as 50/50 tackles. He replied: “And the fouls from Liverpool, they are not close to red cards, no?
Marco Silva was NOT happy when asked if Issa Diop or Andreas Pereira should have been given red cards pic.twitter.com/702KQNEcIb
“I didn’t see these moments, but you have all of them. If I go inside, I can probably give you some more 50/50 decisions from the referee, but you have two [from Diop and Pereira]. If you go through the whole game, you are going to see 50/50s against them, for sure.
“I want to talk about the game, but if you are asking me about two 50/50 moments, we are going to be here all afternoon. It’s better to talk about the game. It’s tough to play at Anfield and I think our guys did really well.
“The first 20 minutes [was played] at a very good level, 11 versus 11. The red card [to Robertson] had an impact on the game and Liverpool with their quality and bravery reacted really strong.
“Liverpool can complain about the red card, since it’s a foul [from Robertson], it should be a red card. I can complain about the first goal that they scored because the foul on Kenny [Tete].”
Slot’s side will hope to bounce back when they take on Southampton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup midweek. They then face a difficult away trip to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League next Sunday.
