Silva: 'Referee's performance was not at Premier League level'
01/05/2025 01:12 PM
Marco Silva insisted that referee Darren Bond’s performance ‘was not at a Premier League level’ after he didn’t send off Leif Davis for hacking down Harry Wilson in the first half of Fulham’s 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town this afternoon.
The Portuguese head coach was baffled both that Davis only received a yellow card for fouling the Welsh winger as he burst through on goal and that Bond needed the VAR’s intervention to award Fulham’s first penalty – for another foul on Wilson by Sam Morsy. Speaking to the BBC after the final whistle, Silva said:
“It was a difficult game, like almost all of the Premier League. A very good first thirty minutes from us. We started the game on the front foot, created a good number of dangerous moments and we probably should have done that with more tempo, intensity and moved the ball more quickly. We were in control in the first thirty minutes, a great header from Raul, and there should have been a red card for the tackle on Harry Wilson. This is something we cannot control. The performance of the referee was not at a Premier League level. In my opinion, there were many decisions that were not correct – VAR helped with some decisions, but unfortunately for us not with the tackle that should have been a red card.
I said we had a good first thirty minutes but you cannot concede a goal in that way. The first time that they got in and around our box they scored. We know that they have quality players to do that – but we should have done better in that moment. In the last fifteen minutes of the first half, we lost a bit of emotional control and we were not at the level that we were before. Second half, we changed – we put Emile in and we put two strikers on and introduced Andreas Pereira and Adama Traore as well.
The team fought hard, we scored to make it 1-1 and unfortunately for us we made another mistake that gave them the penalty. It has been a little bit our image [lately]. Last week, we gave the ball away and Bournemouth scored to make it 2-2. If you keep doing this, it is more difficult to win football matches. The team fought hard and we should have won the game. When you are on the front foot, you should kill them, you should punish them with goals. We didn’t and we made mistakes that gave them the hope that they could get something from the game.”
The Fulham boss also heaped praise on Raul Jimenez, whose two perfect penalties eventually rescued a point for the Whites. The veteran striker became the Premier League’s leading Mexican goalscorer – moving ahead of Javier Hernandez with his timely brace and Silva was keen to highlight more than just his goals.
"It's an incredible achievement. I'm really pleased for him because we all know he had a really bad moment [the serious head injury sustained when Jimenez was at Wolves], not just in his career but in his life. He was really down when we signed him, but we showed trust in him and it's paying off.
The first two or three months at the club, he was not scoring and everyone was asking why we took the decision to bring him into the football club. We kept trusting him, he kept working really hard and it's so nice to see him achieve an incredible number. It's an honour for him to achieve these numbers and he will be in Premier League history for many, many years. Let's hope there's much more to come from him and I'm here to help him.
It's not just the goals today. The way he won fouls; the way he was always there to help the team. We changed his position in the second-half and he did really well. Let's hope he can get even more confidence in the future."
