Jordan Ayew criticises referee for not sending off Thiago Silva after handball

Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew says he cannot understand why Chelsea’s Thiago Silva was not sent off after his deliberate handball in Saturday’s Premier League fixture.

The Ghana international enjoyed a great outing against the Blues, but it was not enough as Crystal Palace fell to a 2-1 defeat at home.

Ayew provided a lovely assist for Odsonne Edouard to open the scoring at Selhurst Park after just seven minutes.

However, there was a moment of controversy after the half-hour mark when Ayew nearly broke free from Silva, only for the Brazilian defender to use his hand to stop the ball.

Despite protests from the Crystal Palace players, referee Chris Kavanagh only showed Silva a yellow card – even after VAR review.

Chelsea would go on to capitalise as the 38-year-old assisted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang five minutes later to score the equaliser.

The Blues snatched the winner late on in the second half, with substitute and former on-loan Palace midfielder Conor Gallagher netting a golazo in the 90th minute.

Speaking in the aftermath of the game, Ayew bemoaned the inconsistency of referees in the Premier League but said he preferred to focus on the next game.

“I don’t understand – this year is really inconsistent. I don’t understand but I don’t want to say too much. It’s the past and my objective is to focus on the next game,” he said.

“It’s the game, and the Premier League is ruthless. From my opinion, that was the turning point in the game and that’s it, it’s football.”

Ayew added: “We should have taken a point. We weren’t far but we need to keep working and going in the right direction and pushing to win games.

“We just need to focus on our next game, try to win and we will take it from there.”

Ayew is yet to score in eight matches this season but has two assists to his name.

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