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Only seven minutes were on the clock when Chalobah was initially shown a yellow card by referee Darren England following a challenge on Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff.

But video assistant referee Mike Dean advised England to look over the decision as the Fulham midfielder’s yellow was upgraded to a straight red following the check.

Newcastle opened the scoring through Callum Wilson four minutes later and ended up securing a convincing win with a brace from Miguel Almiron and a first goal of the season from Sean Longstaff. Bobby Decordova-Reid pulled back a late consolation for the hosts.

Marco Silva, Head Coach of Fulham interacts with match officials during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Newcastle United at Craven Cottage on October 01, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

While Silva admitted Chalobah’s challenge was ‘harsh’, he was left frustrated by the decision and the consistency in which VAR is applied.

Newcastle United co-owner praises the ‘incredible’ thing he witnessed at Fulham

“[It was] a harsh tackle from Nathan in that moment,” the Cottagers boss said in his post match press conference. “It was clear to him it was a yellow card and of course, after the decision from Mike Dean, it changed everything completely.

“To take one decision like that and advise the referee differently is strange.

“It was a harsh tackle but the problem is I haven’t seen consistency on this. It made the afternoon look strange for us and I’m sure in the next few weeks, we’ll see more tackles like that and it’ll be a yellow card and VAR will decide it will be OK.

“That is tough for us to understand because there is no consistency with these decisions and it makes people like me and the players not understand.

“It made things easier for Newcastle. Our first-half was not at the level it should be.”

Although Newcastle will be pleased to see VAR used to help the referee make a ‘correct’ decision on this occasion, they have also been left frustrated by the system on several occasions already this season.

The three points saw United leapfrog Fulham in the Premier League table and move up to seventh with 11 points and just one defeat in their opening eight games.

Next up for Eddie Howe’s side is a match against Brentford at St James’s Park next Saturday (3pm kick-off).

Fulham boss blasts VAR after ‘strange’ red card v Newcastle United with Mike Dean namecheck