Wolves captain Max Kilman has admitted he was ‘too honest’ when Carlos Vinicius headbutted him in the 3-2 defeat to Fulham on Monday night.
It was yet another very frustrating day at the office for Wanderers, who saw as many as four big decisions go against them at Craven Cottage.
Two penalties were awarded against Nelson Semedo and Joao Gomes, with the first against Semedo particularly harsh. In the eyes of Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, neither should have been spot-kicks
There were also two instances of Fulham players not being sent off when they should have been.
It was amazing to see Carlos Vinicius stay on the field after pushing his head into Max Kilman‘s face, and the Molineux skipper believes he did the Brazilian a real favour in that moment…
Max Kilman admits he was ‘too honest’ in Carlos Vinicius incident
This incident happened in the 88th minute with Vinicius going to ground fairly easily.
The former Tottenham Hotspur striker then jumped to his feet to square up to Kilman, who had not taken kindly to his reaction.
Vinicius then clearly planted a headbutt on the 26-year-old, but Kilman did not really react too much. He moved his head back a bit and looked over at referee Michael Salisbury in shock, but he did not cover his face or go to ground.
Unbelievably, Vinicius was only given a yellow card and then even more inexplicably, VAR Stuart Attwell did not deem it violent conduct and worthy of a red.
Journalist Henry Winter branded the decision ‘ridiculous’, believing Kilman was essentially punished for being honest.
Speaking about the incident himself, Kilman admitted (via Wolves official): “The incident with me, I’ve been headbutted and been too honest and not gone down, but it’s not my fault.”
Kilman shouldn’t have to go down
It is close between this and the Semedo penalty award for the worst decision of the night.
Vinicius not being sent off was laughable, as was the explanation given after the game, with Gary O’Neil saying Salisbury had called it a ‘soft headbutt’.
In football today, there is far too much simulation, theatrics and rolling around, so it is refreshing when you get players who are honest and have integrity. We cannot be having players punished for honesty.
The officials at Craven Cottage have now sent a precedent. You are going to see players doing all they can to try and buy decisions and that just cannot be a good thing for the game. As O’Neil said, you expect the rules to take care of things and bring about justice.