A joyful Stamford Bridge faithful mocked Anthony Taylor and referee Paul Tierney after a 10-man Chelsea edged past Leicester City in the Premier League.
The referee, on the whole, wasn't the main talking point for once during a Chelsea fixture. This has come at a good time, especially considering the Taylor and Mike Dean controversy that unfolded during game week 2 in the London derby against Tottenham. Referee Tierney did have to send off Conor Gallagher though. A decision that was accepted on the whole by the nervy Stamford Bridge fanbase, who at one point probably thought the Leeds hangover would continue after 30 minutes in.
That included manager Thomas Tuchel who was serving his one-match ban after the FA punished him under code E3 for his comments against the aforementioned refereeing duo. Even the German had no complaints about the red card moment as he shifted responsibility fully to the player in question.
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"Today, he is responsible for what he did. Of course, he knows it was a huge mistake," Tuchel said in his post-match press conference. "We spoke briefly after the game, and things like this can happen. It's not purely his fault alone because it's a set-piece for us, and it's sloppy how we take set-pieces at the moment.
"We lack belief and precision. We can speak it out clearly. It's not good enough how we take set-pieces at the moment, and on top of it, we give chances away. We are sloppy on the coverage and bad with the decision making how we cover the set pieces. We have to stop doing this and improve immediately. We are on it with the team, and I don't know why it happened again.
"At the end of this chain is a decision that brings such a huge disadvantage after 25 minutes. It's a very, very bad decision from Conor, and, of course, he is upset. Everybody was upset in this moment because it almost kills the whole football match.
But an inspired team performance was capped off by Raheem Sterling and Reece James, two players who stood out in the end and sent a big World Cup message in the process to Gareth Southgate.
Besides the goals and the nervy ending, the fans were also a key talking point from the proceedings. Despite Tierney putting in a good refereeing performance, on the whole, a section of supporters did ironically compare some of his decisions to Taylor's.
The fans chanted: "Are you Taylor in disguise."
Taylor himself was on fourth official duty during this weekend. He was on the sidelines to deal with Erik ten Hag and Ralph Hasenhuttl, respectively, for Man United's win over Southampton in the early Saturday kick-off. He will also be on hand in the same role for Aston Villa vs West Ham.
Meanwhile, Mike Dean, the other man heavily involved in the Chelsea vs Tottenham controversy, was on VAR duty once more for Brighton's tight victory over Leeds United.
Chelsea fans- How did you rate Paul Tierney's refereeing performance in Saturday's affair? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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