Calvin Bassey wouldn’t have hoped for the kind of debut he got welcomed to in the English Premier League following his red card baptism in Fulham’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates yesterday as Marco Silva brands referee decision as a ‘joke’.
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Bassey was sent off for two bookable offences for Fulham against Arsenal yesterday with the defender who was initially booked in the first half for time wasting at the Emirates later dismissed for a second bookable offence after making a last-ditch challenge on Eddie Nketiah.
Fulham manager Marco Silva believes the league’s clampdown on time-wasting is protecting the ‘big clubs’ as he branded Calvin Bassey’s sending off a ‘joke’.
“The first yellow card for Calvin is a joke, and of course, we understand the new circumstances (rules). They are taking all the emotion from the game because it is going to protect the big clubs because you have to see consistency in the decisions,” he said in his post-match reactions.
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“For sure if you play for Fulham, or for other clubs and take 10-15 seconds to take a throw-in or in a goal kick it will be a yellow card, a player will always be under pressure because if you make a foul, it will be a second yellow card.”
“For the other clubs, it is not the same. If you see one of the first throw-ins for (Thomas) Partey, he took much more time than Calvin at the goal-kick. It was not a yellow card. Why? Because they were losing the game? It is always going to be not the big clubs who suffer more,” he added.
“No one listens to us, we knew this was going to happen.”
Fulham who will be without the Super Eagles international who arrived in the summer from Ajax in their next home game ended up clawing the game back to 2-2 after Joao Palhinha’s 87th-minute strike.
