Chelsea: Three lessons learnt as right shade of Blues win the undercard

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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 08: Edouard Mendy of Chelsea saves a penalty taken by Sergio Aguero of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Etihad Stadium on May 08, 2021 in Manchester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

It was always going to be a bit tricky reviewing Manchester City versus Chelsea. Both had just made the Champions League against one another. Chelsea had beaten City earlier in the FA Cup as City rotated. Both sides rotated here and the first half was basically a wild west standoff. No one wanted to reveal a thing for the big one in three weeks.

Chelsea, however, found a way. They weathered storms and pushed and found the winner they needed. The big one is too far away to draw too many conclusions, but for now, Chelsea found an edge. What lessons were learned in this match?

1. This is the best England can do with refs?

Let’s get this one out of the way: Anthony Taylor dominated the game. That’s not the job of the referee, despite evidence to the contrary in England. England has some of the best known refs in the world in any sport and that is exactly the problem. They are a third team in the game and all too often, they make sure they are heard.

The penalty given against Billy Gilmour wasn’t a penalty. If it was even a foul, then one should have been given on the first goal as Andreas Christensen went down. That is not to mention the amount of studs up, dangerous tackles that went without a whistle or card. Kurt Zouma did give away a penalty, but in a make up call Taylor waved on.

Then there is the matter of VAR. VAR does its job, but do the refs that use it? That is doubtful as it seemed exactly zero checks were done on things that absolutely trigger VAR checks. Were they that clear? Because that would be literally the first time in English VAR history anyone ever said things were clear and required no check.

This all gets to the point that Chelsea won and yet much of the talk is going to be about Taylor. That’s exactly why Taylor’s name is known: he ensures it is. He’s as much a winner of this game as Chelsea if not more so and that is the problem with referring in England.

Having no refs at World Cup 2018 should have been the sign that the standard had slipped. Every season, it seems like it slips more. Chelsea won and that is good, but Taylor ensured that this will be his story going forward.

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