CHELSEA target Declan Rice was among those to question Anthony Taylor’s performance in the FA Cup final.
Fans of the Blues were left raging with the referee after a series of decisions went against the Blues in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley.
Referee Anthony Taylor has been blasted by Chelsea fans for his performance in the FA Cup finalCredit: Reuters
Taylor showed Mateo Kovacic a red card after the softest of second yellowsCredit: EPA
Several major incidents seemed to go Arsenal’s way, with Mateo Kovacic sent off after an extremely soft second yellow card the most high-profile decision.
Chelsea fans were also outraged by the decision not go to give Chelsea a late foul on the edge of the box – and for Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez appearing to handle outside the box.
The stats appeared to back Chelsea’s complaints with the Blues conceding 14 fouls to just two four Arsenal and picking up six bookings to one.
And West Ham star Rice, who played for Chelsea as a youngster and is wanted again by the club, summed up a lot of fans’ feelings.
West Ham star, and Chelsea target, Declan Rice was among those unimpressed by Taylor’s performanceCredit: EPA
He wrote on Twitter: “Some of the decisions in this game today…”
Chelsea fans were a lot more forthright with their anger.
LDNFootball wrote: “One of the most disgraceful refereeing performances I’ve ever seen from Anthony Taylor today.
“Kovacic red card is an embarrassingly bad decision – Mount yellow was awful… Shocking.”
Uber Chelsea added: “You won Anthony Taylor. I hope it makes you happy.
“Dear lord what a sad little life, you ruined the Final so you could have the trophy, I hope you use the prize money on learning some grace and decorum because you have all grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.”
Younes said: “Looks like corruption at its finest. Simple as that.”
While Ali wrote: “No wonder Arsenal can’t pay the [Thomas] Partey fee.
“They’ve paid half of it to Anthony Taylor for a chance to play in the Europa League.”
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard was less than impressed with the refereeCredit: AFP
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard was also less than impressed with the ref.
He fumed after the game: “That is nowhere near [a red card] and it changes the game.
“I cannot fault the lads effort for pushing but that is never a red card but again coming back to us we did not do enough to win the final.”
Arsenal won the FA Cup after a 2-1 winCredit: Getty – Pool
VAR could not overturn the decision made by Anthony Taylor due to the rule that it cannot involve itself in yellow card incidents, a rule which Lampard believes the FA need to review.
He continued: “What kind of rule is that? There has always been this one about how you couldn’t challenge two yellows.
“Someone is sitting there stubbornly sticking to their guns on that one because if we have VAR that is great.
“Let’s use it as much as we can to get the right decision.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
