In football, referees don"t just blow the whistle; they hold the power to influence the entire narrative of a match. Beyond enforcing the rules, their decisions can be game-changers, determining the fate of victory or defeat.
Recently, Wolves found themselves in a match where the spotlight shifted from players to referees. On Monday night, the unfolding drama saw three decisive penalties shaping the course of the match.
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The first secured Fulham a 2-1 lead as Nelson Semedo"s challenge on Tom Cairney in the penalty area triggered a VAR-reviewed penalty. Despite Semedo making contact with the ball, the decision stood.
People are talking about touching the ball.. he doesn’t even touch Cairney. That first angle they should’ve been looking at the whole time.. every other angle was deceiving. Wolves have conceded the exact same kind of penalty 3 times now 😂 pic.twitter.com/duQs7UTq26
— . (@Lewiswheeler__) November 27, 2023
This was given as a penalty for Fulham against Wolves this evening – after Var had checked it about a million times. Genuinely unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/h7XT8KLzyo
— Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) November 27, 2023
A quarter-hour later, the second penalty transpired, orchestrated by Tim Ream"s infringement on Wolves" Hwang Hee-chan. The resulting goal leveled the score at 2-2. With the clock ticking into stoppage time, Fulham clinched victory through Willian"s second penalty, marking the third penalty of the riveting match.
A great run from Hwang earns Wolves a penalty, as he is brought down by Fulham defender Tim Ream on the edge of the box. Ream is not shown a yellow card for this clumsy foul, which would have resulted in his sending off due to having already received a booking. pic.twitter.com/no9eqaIhSV
— dylan (@dylanwwfc) November 28, 2023
The referee, Michael Salisbury, initially waved off an incident involving Harry Wilson and Joao Gomes in the box. However, a VAR consultation prompted a reversal, leading to the awarding of another penalty.
Post-match, in a review within the referee"s room, Salisbury openly acknowledged an error in awarding the first Fulham penalty. Expressing remorse for not consulting the VAR screen, he believed that a review would have led to a different decision based on the images they scrutinized together in his room.
Matheus Cunha"s response to the incident
Matheus Cunha, the front man at Wolves, stands firm on the belief that the team must elevate their game to prevent wrongful referee decisions during matches.
Cunha, who netted a crucial goal to even the odds, echos the collective disappointment of Wolverhampton finding themselves frequently on the unfavorable end of decisions.
A wonderful assist from Bellegarde puts it on the plate for Cunha to head home and Wolves are level at Fulham 😮💨👏
pic.twitter.com/NAa9nlTm7L— SPORTbible (@sportbible) November 27, 2023
In the face of adversity, Cunha remains undeterred, urging the team to view setbacks as opportunities for improvement.
"It’s hard. Everyone’s very upset. There’s been a lot of hard decisions against us and I’m not the guy who’s come here to put the responsibility on someone else, but there’s been a lot of times. To hear them say sorry again and again, it’s very hard for us. We respect that every [incorrect] decision against us is not intentional, everyone makes mistakes, even us, 100 per cent, but it’s hard."
His optimism shines through as he stresses the imperative of a swift recovery and enhanced performance in the upcoming fixture, redirecting the focus from external factors to internal growth.
“We are upset from the game, of course, and 100 per cent we need to do much more, but also, these points are hard for us to accept and to continue, because maybe in the next game, someone touches someone in the box and it’s a penalty against us again. It’s like that, but we respect [the referees], we need to recover well because in the Premier League you don’t have a lot of time to be upset. We need to come back and do the best that we can to get a good result"
