Chelsea v West Ham: Analysing key refereeing decisions

Chelsea defeated West Ham 2-1 to start their 2016/17 campaign in positive fashion. Let’s analyse the performance of Anthony Taylor during the heated contest.

Chelsea opened their 2016-17 season with a hard-fought win. Having dominated for most of the match, it was the Blues’ finishing that made their task much harder. Some controversial decisions were made by yesterday’s appointed referee Anthony Taylor. We’re here to analyse them.

must read: Chelsea player ratings in opening night win over West Ham United

3′: Foul by N’Golo Kante, Anthony Taylor gives a yellow

Frankly the only time such a light tackle should be sanctioned by a yellow would be because of persistent fouling. Two minutes into the game only makes the card decision ridiculous.

Verdict: mistake by Anthony Taylor 

19′: Penalty appeal, Oscar brought down by Winston Reid

Very little physicality from Reid and Oscar falls in a theatrical manner. However, the referee has to give a penalty because the West Ham defender has got both his arms around Oscar, and that’s reason enough for giving a spot kick.

Verdict: mistake

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19′: Diego Costa Yellow Card for talking back to the Referee

Pretty self-explanatory, should not have happened in the first place and Taylor rightfully dished out the card. Early application of the new rules.

Verdict: hard to give a verdict on new rules, especially without knowing what Diego Costa did, so we give the referee the benefit of the doubt.

46′: Penalty given, foul by Antonio on Cesar Azpilicueta

Clear penalty and rightfully given.

Verdict: Good decision

68′: Appeal for second yellow for Costa, late tackle on Adrian

Although slow motion close-ups give this tackle a rather homicidal dimension, it didn’t look very bad in reality. Most importantly it was clearly an attempt to win the ball rather than the injure the player and the referee has to acknowledge that before making a decision. Having been his only foul since his booking early on, we side with the referee.

Verdict: Good decision, most people would have forgotten about it had Costa not got on the scoresheet 25 minutes later.

73′: Another Penalty appeal for Chelsea

Byram sticks out part of his arm to block Oscar’s free kick. Very harsh to give a penalty as only part of the elbow is in an abnormal position. Taylor would get away with either decision.

Verdict: Correct decision, as giving the penalty would have been harsh.

76′: High Foot by Cesar Azpilicueta, dangerous free-kick

The foot wasn’t very high and Carroll seemed to draw his head in. Still a dangerous situation, though, as Cesar’s foot wasn’t very far from Carroll’s head. Again, we hand the benefit of the doubt to Anthony Taylor.

Verdict: Correct