Fulham boss Marco Silva addressed the media following a heated Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final at Old Trafford. His Fulham team had excelled against Manchester United, deservedly leading through Aleksandar Mitrovic. But things unravelled in the space of a few minutes. While the referee was checking the VAR monitor for a possible penalty against Willian – which he subsequently gave before dismissing the winger – Marco Silva was shown a red card. To add insult to injury, Mitrovic was also then dismissed for his remonstrations, having not been awarded a penalty of his own in the first half.
Marco Silva said: “It’s a clear penalty on Mitro. Luke Shaw pushed Mitro clearly, the referee is in a position to see, and the VAR in their office, for sure. It’s pressure to play at Man United away from home at Old Trafford. Until 70 minutes, we did it brilliantly, because we were clearly the best team on the pitch. We dominated them, we were the best team on the pitch, coming here to play at Old Trafford, and we matched them. Until that moment, they didn’t create anything. Until that moment, we were the best team.”
And while Silva acknowledged that emotions were running high, he admitted he’s not entirely sure why he was shown a red card.
Marco Silva said: “Of course, in all the moments of the game, we should control the emotions. Of course, we are human beings, but we have to understand the business and the game that we’re playing, and we should control all the emotions. In that moment, I got the red card before the [penalty] decision came, and if I got that card because I was out of my [technical] area and that is the reason for the referee to give me a red card, I have to accept it. Because, for sure, I didn’t say anything to make him give me the red card. But, I repeat again, if I’m out of my area, and there’s a reason for him to give the red card to me in the moment that he is watching the screen, I have to accept it. If you ask me if I should be in my area, of course, and I have to control that situation. And about Mitro, it’s the same. He should control the emotions of the game. Even if the decision came against us, even if in the first half he had two moments inside the box that the referee didn’t give, at least one for him, and no one told the referee to go to the screen. He was involved in all the moments and it’s tough for him. At the same time, he has to control the emotions.”
Asked what he told his players in the changing room post-match,
Marco Silva replied: “First, I said to them that I should be there in the most difficult moments in the game, when we got two red cards. My position is to be in front of them, like I always should be. It’s a position where I have to be there in front of them – difficult moment for my players and I have to be there to protect them, and to take decisions, of course. I think the feeling for everybody was really tough. Let’s go to play the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup, let’s do our best to play the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup, that was really our goal and I think we showed that during 75 minutes, clearly.”
