Fulham’s defeat by West Ham United was a difficult one for Marco Silva to swallow.
The Whites began well and almost followed up Andreas Pereira’s stunning opener with another when Dan James hit the crossbar.
But the Hammers restored parity through Jarrod Bowen’s penalty after Andreas was penalised, before securing the three points in the second through Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio.
“Tough match for us, a tough result, I have to say,” Silva stated. “I think we started the game really well.
“The way we were playing, you could see we were creating some problems for them, which we’ve been working on and we did it well.
“We managed the ball well in the first moments of the game, but we know they are a team that can punish you whenever they have the ball.
“Until the penalty, I think we were clearly the best team on the pitch. A great strike from James gave us the chance to score the second, they had one good [chance] as well.
“When they equalised the game with the penalty it was a boost for them and the game was much more balanced after that.
“They started better than us second half and had two or three dangerous moments, but I think we came again and balanced the game more. The second goal had a huge impact on the game.”
If the penalty decision was debatable, the goals in the second half were hugely controversial, with VAR deciding to let Scamacca’s handball slide, while a similar infringement from Antonio also went unpunished.
“It's another clear handball from Antonio for the third goal,” Silva said. “It's tough to understand but I don’t want to talk about the referee because I know [that would mean] I would not be on the bench for the next game, and I want to be on the bench for the next game with my players to embrace another challenge.
“I told my players that these things unfortunately can happen and we have to show more maturity to deal with some situations of the game, when the pressure is coming higher.
“The penalty moment is a good example, when the referee spoke with Andreas. Let’s hope this type of situation, when blocks happen in the opposition box, will come some penalties for us. I hope.
“It's tough for the referee. He was so embarrassed, like myself, when he saw [the replay] on the screen.
“It’s difficult for him to say something more. The decision came from VAR and he has to respect that decision.
“But I saw on his face when I spoke to him after the match, he was embarrassed, because he saw on the screen like I and everyone saw.
“It is what it is, it’s something that we can’t control. We have to keep working hard, we know it will not be an easy journey for us.
“Let’s hope the next few weeks at least the decisions are more balanced for both teams.”
