Despite having been demoted to the Championship following a Premier League blunder a week prior, Anthony Taylor is set to referee Chelsea and Manchester City’s game this weekend
Anthony Taylor is set to return to officiate Chelsea and Manchester City’s clash this weekend despite being demoted to the Championship last week.
Just over a week ago, Taylor awarded Newcastle United a penalty in their 2-2 draw against Wolves when he ajudged striker Hwang Hee-chan to have brought down Fabian Schar inside the box. A lengthy VAR check ensued, but Taylor’s initial decision to award a penalty, which looked incredibly harsh, stood.
But, that then led to the 45-year-old being demoted to the Championship last weekend, where, unfortunately for Taylor, he dropped another clanger while officiating Preston North End and Coventry City’s clash. On 41 minutes, Taylor awarded a penalty to Preston after Coventry’s Kyle McFadzean brought down Milutin Osmajic in the box – only for replays to show there was minimal contact. Alan Browne dispatched the spot kick as Preston went on to win 3-2.
However, despite having overseen two contentious penalty decisions in back to back weeks, Taylor has been brought back up to cover a Premier League game this weekend, with the referee set to officiate Manchester City’s Sunday afternoon trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.
Over the past two weeks, refereeing decisions across the UK have become the centre of attention following a string of questionable decisions and backlash from managers, like Wolves’ Gary O’Neil and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta. And Taylor’s penalty decision during Newcastle and Wolves’ game was not the first time the latter have been hurt by a poor decision making from officials.
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