Marco Silva hits out at 'confusing' Joachim Andersen red card as Fulham lose to Aston Villa | OneFootball

Defender given marching orders for shove on Ollie Watkins

Fulham manager Marco Silva has called for more consistency with referees and VAR, saying the decision to send Joachim Andersen off against Aston Villa was "confusing."

The match was not short of controversy however. Referee Darren England showed a straight red to last man Andersen for a shove on Watkins.

Villa thrived with the extra man in west London and Issa Diop's own goal added a third, before Jaden Philogene was shown a second yellow for a light push on Reiss Nelson.

Andersen's dismissal raised some eyebrows around Craven Cottage.

"For me the referees are trying not to go for soft touches," Silva said.

Marching orders: Joachim Andersen was controversially sent off for Fulham against Aston Villa

AFP via Getty Images

"It happened already for us against West Ham, they explained us it was soft but two or three weeks later you see a completely different situation and not consistent to what we've seen week in or week out in the Premier League.

"I'm not going to find excuses in the referee as to why we lost the game.

"We're all confused, we all don't understand, even for you, for fans for staff, managers and players, we're all confused because when things happen we try to understand why and respect. They explained us why (vs West Ham) and now completely changed the decision."