'How you disallow that is unbelievable' - Silva after loss to Chelsea

Fulham manager Marco Silva says he finds it "unbelievable" that Josh King's opening goal for his side was disallowed during their 2-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

King, 18, had the ball in the back of net only 22 minutes into the game only for it to be chalked off following a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) intervention for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.

Chelsea went on to win the game through a Joao Pedro header and an Enzo Fernandez penalty, that came after another contentious VAR decision that went against the visitors and left Silva fuming.

"How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable," Silva told TNT Sports after the game, which left Fulham winless three rounds into the new Premier League season.

"We have meetings with referee and people in charge, we all want to win. VAR is not here to re-referee the game.

"I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don't want to be fined.

"But it has been a difficult start to the season with some decisions."

The derby defeat follows back-to-back draws against Brighton and Manchester United for Silva's side, who finished 11th last season.

King's goal was ruled out after a lengthy review by VAR Michael Salisbury that was confirmed by referee Robert Jones after looking at the pitchside monitor, meaning eight minutes were added on at the end of the first half.

Adding to Fulham's woes, nine minutes into first-half injury time Joao Pedro put Chelsea ahead.

"I would love to explain many things," the Portuguese manager said.

"The first goal - eight minutes extra time. After the first corner it was already nine minutes. It is time to stop the game. That is the rules.

"I asked the referee and he said because we lost time. But I checked the eight minutes. The game didn't stop.

"It's very difficult. I make mistakes, the referee makes mistakes, but when it is black or white, we cannot see something that is not there.

"What is done is not for me to decide. For me, it is all about understanding the decision and how they follow the rules."

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was adamant the referees made the right decisions in the game.

"The foul is a foul and the penalty is a penalty," the Italian said.

"For me, it's quite clear. If I had some doubt, I would say. But it's quite clear that the foul is foul and the other one is simple.

"I was trying just to explain to [the Fulham bench] that the foul for me is a foul. It's normal they were saying it's not foul. It's part of the game. I think both decisions were correct."

Why was King's goal disallowed?

Silva's frustrations stemmed mainly from the disallowed goal that would have put the Cottagers ahead early in west London.

Teenager King was played through and did well to produce a smart finish to beat goalkeeper Robert Sanchez only for his first Premier League goal to be disallowed.

The Cottagers had won the ball just outside their box and broke forward quickly only for their celebrations to be cut short by referee's contentious decision.

"After review, the Fulham number nine commits a careless challenge, stands on the foot of the Chelsea defender, therefore we disallow the goal," the referee announced, much to the ire of Silva and his players.

Jones was referring to the incident involving Muniz, who was deemed to have stepped on the foot of Chelsea centre-back Chalobah while trying to turn him near the halfway line.

In the Premier League rulebook, a "careless challenge" is deemed to be one with a "lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution".

Chelsea's second goal also came through a VAR intervention after Ryan Sessegnon was judged to have handled the ball in the penalty area.

Joao Pedro also seemed to have handled the ball just before Sessegnon was hit on his outstretched arm with his back to Chalobah's cross, but the decision went in favour of Chelsea and Fernandez converted to seal the win.