Referee Anthony Taylor ruined pulsating Liverpool vs Chelsea contest with harsh James red card in Anfield draw

THE rules of the game states that if a ball touches a players arm AFTER it has come off any other body part, it is not an offence.

But Anthony Taylor’s one-second glance at the VAR screen this evening decided that Reece James doing just this was not only a penalty, it was also a red-card offence.

The decision was simply shocking and disgraceful, and as a Chelsea fan, this is not the first time I have said this about Anthony Taylor and I do not expect it to be the last.

 

Pundits such as Gary Lineker also said it was never a red card.

Rules of the game question whether it was even a penalty, let alone a red card.

This was an unreal game until the sending off right before half-time.

Chelsea and Liverpool were going at each other and Chelsea were leading 1-0 up until the wrongful penalty.

The Blues were comfortable and could have – and should have – scored a second goal

But the penalty decision ruined the game, put Liverpool firmly in charge and put Chelsea firmly under the cosh all through the second half.

Chelsea didn’t deserve this injustice and they had been playing very well at Anfield – they were in control of the game but these decisions ruin matches.

However, with all that negativity aside, we have to simply applaud just how good and how well organised Chelsea were in the second half playing with ten men.

They were absolutely fantastic, and none of them deserved to be on the losing side at all.

Thankfully they weren’t, and they were all heroes today.

They put their bodies on the line, they defended with their hearts and every last breath, and they were determined not to let the injustice get the better of them.

‘DESERVED POINT’

We walked away from Anfield with a deserved point, but we should have got more if not for another terrible refereeing decision.

Liverpool got lucky, make no mistake about it.

It is these kind of games that you really get to see players’ characters and team spirit and Chelsea proved once again that they have this in abundance.

Tuchel made some great decisions at half-time.

The best one was adding the experience of Thiago Silva, who had a massive part in helping Chelsea see the game out.

He came on and organised the whole backline and, alongside Andreas Christensen, they were both colossal.

Chelsea’s mentality is something that has really changed since Tuchel came in and it is noticeable.

They showed that again today by seeing this game out with ten men.

With the tide – and the ref – against them, they saw it through and every player put in 100 per cent effort to make sure they did that.

I am proud of the team and the manager today, that draw felt like a win there are no two ways about it.