Fulham boss Marco Silva calls Calvin Bassey’s sending-off against Arsenal a ‘joke’ in criticism of new time-wasting rules in the Premier League…believing rules protect the ‘big clubs’
- Bassey was sent off for two bookable offenses for Fulham against Arsenal
- The defender was shown a yellow card in the first half for wasting time at the Emirates
- He was later fired for a second bookable offense after making a challenge
Fulham manager Marco Silva believes the league’s approach to wasting time protects the ‘big clubs’, while he called sending Calvin Bassey a ‘joke’.
Defender Bassey was booked by referee Paul Tierney after being condemned for taking too long on a goal kick. He was dismissed for a second caution, blocking Eddie Nketiah on a counterattack.
It follows an attempt by the league to enforce new time management rules this season.
Silva said: ‘Calvin’s first yellow card is a joke, and of course we understand the new circumstances (rules). They take all the emotion out of the game because it’s going to protect the big clubs, because you have to see consistency in the decisions.
“If you play for Fulham or other clubs and take 10 to 15 seconds to take a throw-in or a goal kick, it will definitely be a yellow card, a player will always be under pressure because if you commit a foul , it will be a second yellow card.
Marco Silva believes the league’s approach to wasting time protects the ‘big clubs’
Calvin Bassey was booked for wasting time, before later being sent off for a second yellow card
Silva regarded the broadcast as a ‘joke’ in heavy criticism of the new Premier League rules
It’s not the same for the other clubs. If you see one of the first throw-ins for (Thomas) Partey, he took a lot longer than Calvin on the goal kick. It was not a yellow card. Why? Because they were losing the game? It will not always be the big clubs that suffer the most.
“No one listens to us, we knew this was going to happen.”
Fulham eventually managed to reduce the game to 2–2 after Joao Palhinha’s 87th-minute goal, but Mikel Arteta claimed his side at Arsenal played ’10 times better’ against the Cottagers than last season, despite losing two points.
It was second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and substitute Eddie Nketiah within three minutes that put the Gunners ahead through Fabio Vieira, who came on after 56 minutes.
Arteta said: “If I compare the game we played against Fulham this season and last season, we were ten times better. At least 10.
“We were much better than last season. Last season we won 2-1 in the last minute. Today we drew 2-2.’