When asked if the game was over as soon as Nathaniel Chalobah was sent off in the eighth minute, Marco Silva replied: “Of course.
“It’s clear we had a game until the sixth or eighth minute, and after we had a completely different game. I think that is normal to happen when we get the red card so early in the game.
“And talking about the red card, harsh tackle from Nathaniel in that moment. The referee was on it and it was clear for him a yellow card, he told me even. And, of course, the [VAR] decision changed everything completely.
“Such a long time to take one decision like that, and to advise the referee, for me was strange.
“Of course it was a harsh tackle, but the problem that we have is I haven’t seen consistently these type of situations, which makes the afternoon look strange for us because I’m 100 per cent sure the next few weeks we will see some really tough and competitive matches.
“We’ll see more tackles like that one and it will be a yellow card and the VAR will decide that we will keep going.
“That is tough for us to understand because we are not seeing, consistently, these type of decisions and it makes me and the players not understand what is consistent with these type of decisions.”
But while acknowledging the significance of the red card, Silva was still not happy with the manner of some of the goals shipped.
“It made things easier for Newcastle, definitely,” he send of the game’s defining moment. “Even so, I think our first half after the red card, was not on a level that it should be.
“Apart from the second goal, that combination and a great goal from Almiron, the way we let them create some chances, and the way we conceded two goals, too sloppy.
“We knew that with 10 players they will push us back, it’s normal, it’s difficult to press really high in those type of moments.
“But when you are playing in our own half, in 30, 40 metres we should be much more aggressive, much more compact and not concede the goals the way we conceded and concede the chances that we conceded as well.”
