Marco Silva insists Ryan Manning sending-off was justified

Posted Wednesday, March 09, 2022 by PA

Marco Silva insisted Harry Wilson’s injuries justified the red card shown to Swansea’s Ryan Manning which turned their game in Fulham’s favour.

With the game finely poised at 0-0 at the time, the runaway Championship leaders were able to score five second-half goals to extend their lead at the top to 14 points.

Fulham boss Marco Silva at first agreed with opposite number Russell Martin that Manning’s challenge on Harry Wilson was worth no more than a yellow card – but changed his mind after seeing the marks on his player’s leg.

“In that moment, if you ask me, if I thought it was a red card, I have to say no. After seeing Harry Wilson’s leg, I started to think in a different way,” said Silva.

“If you saw the leg of Harry Wilson, maybe you would think in a different way also.

“I didn’t see the broadcast image. In the first moment I thought it would be yellow. Maybe it’s not a red card but 15 minutes earlier it’s a clear penalty. He (Gillett) made a mistake there as well, but it’s all part of the game.”

Even though his side scored five second-half goals from Aleksander Mitrovic – his 35th of the season – an own goal from Ben Cabango, Bobby Decordova-Reid and two from Neco Williams, Silva was not totally happy with his side’s showing.

“It definitely wasn’t our best performance, even the second half wasn’t our best. It is really tough in this competition with two games in three days,” added Silva.

“We scored some nice goals, which is good to see, and it is a really important three points after a fantastic win on Saturday. We did our job well, which is the main thing.”

Martin said he would appeal against the sending-off of Manning, who is facing a four-match ban for his second red of the campaign.

Martin felt the referee made a mistake and that the decision ruined the game as a spectacle.

“It wasn’t two-footed and it’s not a lunge. He was on the stretch, but it is really difficult when players are running at full speed. It is not clear enough for me,” said Martin.

“We will appeal because he will get four games because he has been sent off before. I’m just really disappointed that such a good game of football was ruined.

“Our game management, especially in the first 10 minutes of the second half, totally killed us and we have to learn from that.

“They are a brilliant group of young men and they gave us everything tonight, unfortunately we were playing with 10 men against a very good team who are going up to the Premier League.”