Anthony Taylor explains five reasons for his errors during the #Manchester City Vs Chelsea game and apologizes to the Chelsea supporters, saying “It was not my decision.”
Fans and players of Chelsea were furious when they were not given what they thought was a clear penalty on August 18.
Manchester City came to Stamford Bridge to play the Blues in their first game of the 2024–2025 season.
In the 18th minute, Erling Haaland scored his first goal of the season by throwing the ball over Robert Sanchez.
As the game went on, Chelsea’s confidence grew. Enzo Maresca was trying to get off to a good start in his first real game as manager.
Mateo Kovacic’s handball against Chelsea
Referee Anthony Taylor did not give the West Londoners a penalty even though Enzo Fernandez and others made weak calls.
In the second half, when Malo Gusto tried to pass, it hit Matteo Kovacic in the arm, giving them the loudest cheer. The home crowd and Chelsea players were upset, but Taylor still did not award a penalty kick.
Why Chelsea did not get a penalty for Kovacic’s handball
Replays showed that the ball hit the Croat under the arm, which led to a question about what the rules of football are. Law 12 of the IFAB talks about what a pass is. This is what one sentence says:
“It is against the rules for a person to touch the ball with their hand or arm when it has made their body bigger than it should be.” “A player has made their body bigger than it should have been when the position of their hand or arm is not a result of or appropriate for the player’s body movement in that situation.”
Even though Kovacic’s arm was not in the best place, the fact that he was close to Gusto’s goal saved the former Chelsea player. This rule, which is up to the judge, checks to see if the player had time to put his arms in a normal position before the ball hit his arm.
A statement from the Premier League says that judges will still think about how close the player whose hand or arm touches the ball is to where the ball was hit when deciding whether to give handball or not.
Kovacic made things worse for Chelsea when he scored Manchester City’s second goal soon after. City started their title defense in a strong way.
