Fulham manager Marco Silva believes referee was embarrassed by Premier League VAR decision
- Planet Sport writer
- 9 October 2022
Fulham boss Marco Silva said that referee Chris Kavanagh was "embarrassed" by the VAR decision that allowed Gianluca Scamacca's goal to stand in the 3-1 win over Fulham.
Scamacca scored with a brilliant chip over Bernd Leno but did not celebrate it as even he appeared to think it would be disallowed.
Yet VAR studied the replays, first for offside and then handball, for around three minutes before deciding the goal should stand, prompting a touchline meltdown from Fulham boss Silva, who was booked for his angry protests.
Kavanagh did not go to the pitchside monitor to look at the replays himself, with VAR Michael Salisbury making the decision.
Silva said: "I don't want to talk about the referee because I know that I will not be on the bench in the next game and I want to be on the bench to be with my players.
"It's a difficult moment for the referee, definitely. In open play I didn't see it and of course for him, it's tough to see as well.
"But he was so embarrassed, like myself, when he saw it on the screen. It's difficult for him to say something more.
"The decision came from someone on the VAR and he has to respect that decision, but I saw on his face when I spoke to him after the match that he was embarrassed because he saw it on the screen like I saw it and everyone saw it as well."
Even Hammers manager David Moyes feared the goal might not have stood.
"I thought he hadn't celebrated because it was offside," said Moyes. "From my point of view, I don't see a hand involved in it.
"With Fulham, you're going to say 'you definitely see a hand'. I can't see anything which changes the direction of the ball. It took such a long time, I thought it was going to go against us in the end, but it went for us."
