Mark Clattenburg apologised to Hull City players for Arsenal's opener, says Marco Silva

Marco Silva revealed that referee Mark Clattenburg apologised to Hull City players for allowing Alexis Sanchez's opener in his side 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday (11 February). Yet, the Portuguese boss hailed his side performance as he believes that the 2-0 defeat was "not the story of the game".

Sanchez put Arsenal ahead with a controversial goal in the 34th minute of the game as the Chile international appeared to use his hand to send the ball into Eldin Jakupovic's net. Clattenburg saw nothing wrong, but Silva revealed after the game that the referee eventually apologised to his Hull players at half-time for allowing the goal.

"It's not the story of the game. We didn't start well in the first-half. We lost the ball in some important zones for us but after that, we started to control the game better," Silva told Sky Sports after the defeat at Arsenal.

"However, they scored with a handball and at the start of the second-half when the referee apologises because of the handball for the goal, it's not good for us. We make mistakes and sometimes the referee does as well."

Yet, the Hull boss also felt aggrieved when Clattenburg only showed a yellow card to Kieran Gibbs for clearing Lazar Markovic out when the Arsenal defender was the last man between the Liverpool loanee and Peter Cech's goal.

"Yes, it's true," the boss said when was whether Gibbs could have been sent off. "I don't want to talk about the situation with the referee."

Sanchez himself later converted a penalty to give Arsenal the three points after Sam Clucas was sent off for preventing Lucas Perez's header.

But Silva was still happy with the performance of his side, as Hull eventually had some chances to get a point before Sanchez's killed the game in the injury time.

"We played well in the second-half and some chance to score and change the result. I'm happy with our reaction in the second-half. Obviously, the result is not good for us but I saw some positive things in the game," Silva added.

"We didn't start the game how I wanted but in the second half, the team showed good things again.

"We gave Arsenal, in their stadium, problems. I want the team to continue with this progress. It's important we have time to rest and time to work to prepare for the next game."