Fulham crashed out of the FA Cup following a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton in a fifth-round tie that was overshadowed by a controversial performance from referee Jarred Gillett.
A much-changed Fulham were contentiously denied a bizarre opener in the first half and had a second goal ruled out for offside before a late penalty from Ross Stewart secured Championship side Southampton’s place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
The defeat marks yet another game where Fulham were left stewing on a frustrating encounter with VAR after Marco Silva voiced his frustrations following the 1-0 loss to West Ham on Wednesday.
In the most controversial moment, Saints goalkeeper Daniel Peretz rushed to take a quick goal-kick in the 18th minute, only for it to cannon off Ryan Manning and into the path of Rodrigo Muniz to sweep home.
However, an early whistle from referee Gillett, who had blown to stop play after determining the ball was still rolling when Peretz restarted the game, spared the blushes of Southampton following a comical passage of play leading to the goal.
Replays showed the ball was not rolling at the time, and despite VAR being in operation for the fifth round, they were unable to intervene with the on-field call due to the early whistle from Gillett.
“I have to say, that ball was not rolling,” said former Fulham boss Chris Coleman on TNT Sports. “The ball had stopped. It was really hard on Fulham.”
Timothy Castagne puts the ball into the Southampton net only for his effort to be ruled out for offside
Gillett would have his say again in the second half for a similar situation, much to Saints’ frustration, blowing for a foul on Leo Scienza on the halfway line instead of playing on as Cyle Larin raced through on goal.
Larin put his shot wide of the target and despite the coverage stating he was about to be flagged for offside, replays showed he was onside before squandering the chance when play had come to another abrupt and premature stop.
Southampton continued to mount pressure on Fulham with Finn Azaz’s deflected shot striking the bar before the midfielder went down in the area following marginal contact from Joachim Andersen with Gillett blowing for a penalty without hesitation.
Stewart stepped up to fire the visitors ahead in stoppage time to book their place in the next round, while Fulham were left fuming on the wrong side of a fixture full of controversial decisions yet again.
Ross Stewart scores from the penalty spot to give Southampton a late lead at Fulham
Silva: A really bad day, we were not good enough
Fulham boss Marco Silva speaking to TNT Sports:
“Completely disappointing result and afternoon for us, for the football club and for the fans mainly. [They] are going to be the ones that are going to suffer because the expectations, as always, were very high.
“[It’s a] moment for us to look for ourselves definitely, because it was not good enough.
“We can talk about many, many, many things. It’s probably not the moment for me to be here to talk about that situation.
“Basically, a really, really bad day for us that has to make us look inside of ourselves and move on.
“We are going to have another game, you have to really say that was not good enough from us. We can talk about the command of the game, we can talk about many, many things
“It’s really for us to look at and to improve but I think it’s much more than that, and you have to look deeper.”
Marco Silva on the bench during Fulham’s 1-0 loss to Southampton
Eckert: We had to suffer to beat Fulham
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert speaking to TNT Sports:
“We knew it would be a tough game for us. It’s an amazing stadium to play in, it’s not just about defending, we needed some moments on the ball.
“We needed to suffer for some moments and we did that well.
“Big compliment to the boys on the way we defended. If you play well and don’t manage to win games, it is not so much what you do technically; it is about finding belief.
“We don’t get satisfied about winning one game – we need to win the next one.”
‘Draining and uninspiring’ – Officiating another topic of debate for Fulham
Sly Sports’ Patrick Rowe:
Marco Silva was not a frustrated figure in his post-match interview; he was a deflated one.
“I didn’t get an explanation,” he replied bluntly when asked about Fulham’s disallowed goal in the first half.
The Fulham boss is tired of discussing controversial refereeing decisions. In his defence, so am I.
Marco Silva pictured at full-time following Fulham’s 1-0 loss to Southampton
The incident leading to Rodrigo Muniz’s disallowed goal was comical but somehow it was made even worse by Jarred Gillett’s early whistle, which meant VAR could not intervene.
A premature stoppage in play, which wasn’t the only one in the game, and then a soft penalty decision in the dying embers led to a shock defeat for his side.
Sadly for Fulham, it’s just the latest officiating mishap in a season that has been littered with them. I was at Stamford Bridge for Josh King’s disallowed goal in August and I covered the 1-0 loss to West Ham on Wednesday. Man Utd’s equaliser at Craven Cottage was another one.
Match officiating was a hot topic in those games but it is a common theme for most teams in football now, not just Fulham.
It is draining, repititive and uninspiring.
