Fulham boss Marco Silva hits out at referee ‘mistake’ after Huddersfield defeat

Fulham manager Marco Silva laid into referee Tony Harrington for awarding Huddersfield a controversial penalty in a 2-1 win for Carlos Corberan’s visitors.

Duane Holmes converted from the spot to add to Danny Ward’s opener before Bobby De Cordova-Reid pulled one back for the Championship leaders, who lost in the league for the first time since December.

Silva, who was shown a yellow card during the match by Harrington, was convinced Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak had been harshly punished for a coming together with Sorba Thomas that resulted in the penalty award.

Indeed, the Portuguese argued that had it been Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic involved in a similar collision no action would have been taken, and that Fulham themselves were denied spot-kicks of their own, most notably late on when a header from Tosin Adarabioyo hit Jonathan Russell on an arm.

“We were the best team on the pitch, definitely,” Silva said. “They got a goal from a mistake from ourselves – the striker reacted quicker than our defender – and after the decisive moment of the match was the penalty.

“It was a clear mistake by the referee. It was never a penalty – the player fell on our goalkeeper and the decision was strange for me because it was a clear mistake. Marek didn’t do anything.

“It was tough for us to understand why. OK, I can make mistakes and the referee as well but it was so clear.

“We had a clear handball in the box that unfortunately the referee didn’t see – the linesman was in a good position and he didn’t see, it is strange for us.

“I don’t like to speak about referees when I lose but today this had a big impact. If that was a penalty I could find in the second half two or three penalties in their box.

“I am 100% sure that if it