Fulham’s head coach, Marco Silva, has bemoaned his side’s disallowed goal in their loss to Crystal Palace with a cheeky joke claiming Samuel Chukwueze has a big toenail, Soccernet.ng reports.
Despite their 5-4 loss to Manchester City during the week, there were plenty of positives heading into the London derby.
The Cottagers had done well to level the score in the first half and started the second half strongly. They thought they’d taken the lead via Emile Smith-Rowe in the 53rd minute, but VAR intervened to cancel the goal.
Samuel Chukwueze ran down the left flank before putting the ball into the box. Iwobi headed the incoming cross onto the crossbar before Emile Smith-Rowe tapped the ball home into an empty net.
GOAL | Fulham 2-1 Crystal Palace | Emile Smith Rowe
Premier League
Fulham is dominating Crystal Palace in this intense Premier League match right now !#Fulham #CrystalPalace #PremierLeague #FULCRYpic.twitter.com/ZHAbd9C4jm
— goalpostX (@GoalpostX) December 7, 2025
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However, the Cottagers’ joy was cut short after VAR confirmed Chukwueze was offside just before he put in his cross.
Emile Smith Rowe has the ball in the net, but the goal has been ruled out by VAR for offside… Right decision? pic.twitter.com/GbWgiBZhnZ
— Sleeper Football (@SleeperFooty) December 7, 2025
Silva bemoans VAR decision on Samuel Chukwueze
After the decision, it appeared Fulham were already mentally defeated. They failed to record a shot on target after the decision until Marc Guehi headed the winner in for Crystal Palace in the 87th minute.
“They scored, but the reaction from the team was good. I think we scored a brilliant goal, a very good combination,” the Portuguese manager told Sky Sports after the game.
“And second half, we tried to start quicker, moving the ball quicker. It was a great goal from us. It was a great moment for sure. It’s going to boost ourselves.
“And that made Palace come to the game and to play the game, not to be there waiting for our mistake. Of course, again, the goal was disallowed.
“Probably the [toe] nail of Chukwueze is too big for the sport that we are playing. Now, another decision from the VAR against us.
“And of course, after the game was too tight. Not many chances, not for us, not for them. We had some dangerous moments. They had some counterattacks.
“What we should have done differently was to move the ball quickly. And our possession in the back was too slow.
“Even so, it’s a game that we should try to win until the end. But we cannot concede a goal the way we did it because then we lost the game.”
Fulham have lost seven of their last 10 Premier League games (W3), their joint-most in a 10-match stretch under manager Marco Silva (also March – May 2023).
The Cottagers remain in 15th place in the table, just four points above the drop zone, and to make things worse, they’ll be without the crucial Nigerian trio of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze for the next month.
“They are crucial for us. Chukwueze is starting to have that impact. It is what it is; we knew it.
“We knew it when we signed Chukwueze. We also lost Sess yesterday. We were without him and Jedi,” the 48-year-old manager concluded.
The Cottagers have a strong run of comes coming up next. Their next six Premier League fixtures will be played against Burnley, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Liverpool on New Year’s Day.
