Perhaps the biggest insult for Fulham was that the first half was still going on when Chelsea finally broke through. They were into the ninth minute of added time when Enzo Fernández delivered a corner, João Pedro leapt to score and Marco Silva was forced to accept that the footballing Gods were not on his side, but this is where the game is these days. It is pedantic, stop-start and too vulnerable to being warped by technology’s blurred lines.
It is tiresome to have to talk about refereeing decisions – far better to focus on João Pedro’s blistering form since swapping Brighton for Chelsea, for instance – but sometimes there is no other choice. This is the era of VAR and fortune did not favour Fulham as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. They dominated much of the opening period and had done enough to lead this west London derby, only for the red mist to descend when Josh King’s first goal for his boyhood club was followed by one of those long, tortured looks at the pitchside monitor and a ruling from Rob Jones that left the Fulham head coach, Silva, utterly incandescent on the touchline.
Clear and obvious? The only thing beyond doubt here was Silva’s rage. The supposed offence during the buildup to King’s lovely strike came from Rodrigo Muniz inadvertently treading on Trevoh Chalobah’s foot as he turned away from the Chelsea defender. There was no major appeal. Muniz had possession and was being challenged by Chalobah. Most people saw a good goal. Michael Salisbury, the man at Stockley Park, saw a reason to intervene.
