Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Gary O'Neil has revealed that the referee has accepted that Fulham should not have been awarded two penalties in Monday night's Premier League fixture.
In a game that included three spot kicks in total, the Cottagers prevailed by a 3-2 scoreline, with Willian netting from 12 yards on two occasions either side of Hwang Hee-chan scoring for Wolves.
However, just as it has on numerous occasions throughout this season, VAR cost Wolves and there is an argument that Fulham should not have been awarded either penalty and had a player sent off.
Early in the second half, Nelson Semedo was adjudged to have fouled Tom Cairney, with the referee giving the decision on field and being backed up by VAR.
O'Neil has claimed that referee Michael Salisbury has since told him that VAR should have overruled that particular call, admitting that he made a mistake.
© Reuters
During the closing stages of the contest, Carlos Vinicius got to his feet after an exchange with Max Kilman and appeared to make slight contact with a head butt, the forward only being handed a yellow card after Kilman stayed on his feet.
The most decisive decision was made in added-on time when Harry Wilson went down under minimal contact from Joao Gomes, and after the referee failed to award a spot kick, VAR claimed that a clear and obvious error had been made.
In all three cases, particularly the second Fulham penalty, the general consensus is that Wolves have reason to be aggrieved, but Salisbury has insisted that there was enough contact for an overrule for the alleged Wilson infringement.
After the game, O'Neil delayed his media commitments to have what he described as "a grown-up conversation" with Salisbury and his assistants, revealing what was said in an interview with Sky Sports.
O'Neil said: "We have discussed a lot of decisions. Vinicius should have been off for headbutting Max [Kilman]. Tim Ream should have been sent off for a second bookable offence on the penalty. They are my opinions.
"At that pace, it takes you down!" 💨
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Tom Cairney watches back the foul for Fulham's first penalty during his post-match interview 😅 pic.twitter.com/BxWrmUrocs
"Nelson [Semedo] plays the ball and doesn't touch Tom Cairney. The referee says he felt that was wrong and he should have been sent to the monitor. That doesn't help me. So that one has been pretty much admitted that it was a mistake. The Harry Wilson one we disagree. I feel it was soft. For all four decisions to go against us is tough to take and we didn't deserve that.
"[It's] bad luck that it keeps going against us. But yeah, there are bad refereeing decisions in there, I have had a good grown-up conversation with him [the referee]. I am not angry with people, it's like 'Come on guys, there's six or seven that have gone against us'.
"This is a big club. The impact that you are having on my reputation, and the club and people's livelihoods is massive. We should be able to talk about the game and not decisions but unfortunately, we can't."
The Englishman added: "I have always been for VAR but I think it is causing problems at the moment. I think VAR has cost us there. The fact that one is deemed an obvious error and one is not is [baffling].
"Maybe with just a human referee one of the penalties may have gone against us, but the fact that we have conceded two, for me VAR is not helping with subjective decisions. Maybe tonight has finally turned me against VAR."
Wolves remain in 12th position in the Premier League standings, 10 points above the relegation zone, ahead of a trip to face Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
Darren Plant
