Chelsea fans want referee Anthony Taylor relegated back to the Championship after awarding a controversial penalty at Manchester City.
Marc Cucurella was adjudged to have dragged Erling Haaland onto the floor, with Taylor pointing to the spot. Television replays appeared to show both players pulling each other’s shirts, but only the Chelsea player was penalised.
VAR reviewed the incident but declined to intervene, with Taylor’s on-field decision proving final. Blues fans were left furious with the referee, who has a history of controversy at Stamford Bridge.
Last year, Taylor was in charge when Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte clashed after a fiery 2-2 draw with Tottenham. There was also an incident in 2020 when Harry Maguire was released from prison for kicking former Chelsea player Michy Batshuayi.
This is how Chelsea fans reacted on social media to the dubious penalty.
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@CFC_Janty: Send Antony Taylor back to the league and never bring him back. Such a robbery
@DeanCFC_: Anthony Taylor needs to be permanently demoted to the Championship, this man does not deserve to referee matches at the top level. SHAME!
@CallumVurley: Add this to Anthony Taylor’s reel. The standard of refereeing is pathetic in this country yet he finds new levels to stoop to.
@CFCRoan: Anthony Taylor must have a collection of 20+ minutes of wrong decisions given against us now. It’s been running for at least five years and is consistently ranked among our biggest games.
The incident seemed to spark Chelsea as, within minutes, Thiago Silva headed home to level the proceedings. Raheem Sterling then exacted his revenge on his former club to fire the Blues forward and upset west London. But in whirlwind Chelsea fashion, they would concede on the stroke of half-time when Manuel Akanji equalized from close range.
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