Referee who angered Mikel Arteta after ‘bizarre’ decision appointed for Chelsea vs Arsenal
Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon as they look to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta labelled a previous decision made by Anthony Taylor as ‘bizarre’ (Image: John Walton/PA Wire.)
The Premier League have confirmed that Anthony Taylor will referee Arsenal’s visit to Chelsea. The Gunners visit Stamford Bridge in the 4.30pm kick-off as they look to stretch their lead at the top of the table to seven points.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will be looking to close the gap. The Blues are in third place, six points behind their opponents.
Ahead of the game, the appointments of the refereeing teams have been confirmed with Taylor as the man in the middle. He will be assisted by Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn. The fourth official will be Sam Barrott, while John Brooks is on VAR duty, and he will be assisted by Eddie Smart.
The appointment of Taylor comes after he awarded a controversial penalty against Arsenal back in January, in a decision labelled as ‘bizarre’ by Arteta. With the Gunners leading 1-0 away against Brighton, the referee gave a penalty after William Saliba headed the head of Joao Pedro when attempting to clear the ball.
After taking a few moments to think about the incident, the referee pointed to the spot. Pedro himself took the penalty and drew Brighton level.
The scoreline would stay at 1-1, with Arsenal dropping points in the title race with Liverpool. Talking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the game, the Arsenal manager said: “Bizarre. That means we have probably never seen it before.
“I haven’t in my career. So it is a new one.”
Anthony Taylor awarded a controversial penalty to Brighton against Arsenal last season. (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
When talking about the decision to Match of the Day, he added: “We are really disappointed with the decision that leads to the goal because I have never seen something like this in my life. He touches the ball as well.”
He also addressed the penalty with Sky Sports after the game. “We gave too many balls away in the second half and we’re very disappointed with the penalty,” he said.
“I’ve never seen that in my life – and Saliba touches the ball. [It wasn’t a penalty] for me, no.”
It’s not just Arteta who may be aware of the referee in charge of the game. Back in October, it was Taylor who sent off Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after showing the Italian two yellow cards against Liverpool.
Maresca was shown his first yellow for dissent. He was then shown a second yellow for leaving his technical area to celebrate with his players after Estevao’s 96th-minute winner.
The Chelsea boss was subsequently handed a one-match touchline ban and was fined £8,000.
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