Latest Liverpool news as referee Anthony Taylor handed new Premier League appointment following his Arsenal decisions
Anthony Taylor, who made a number of controversial calls as referee of Arsenal vs Liverpool on Sunday, has been handed another Premier League assignment for the upcoming weekend. As one of the senior PGMOL referees, it is no surprise.
The Reds fought back after their fellow title hopefuls took the lead twice. Virgil van Dijk cancelled out Bukayo Saka’s opener, then Mohamed Salah rescued a draw late on following a Mikel Merino strike. VAR had the final say over whether Merino had strayed offside for his goal, the ruling being that he hadn’t, however Arsenal were ultimately left feeling aggrieved by the two key decisions that were left to on-field referee Taylor.
One was a penalty shout in the first half, as Ibrahima Konate lunged in to win the ball ahead of Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian was subsequently sent tumbling over the Liverpool defender, and play was waved on.
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The other came as the meeting reached stoppage time. Taylor had quite clearly been blown for a foul by Jakub Kiwior on Dominik Szoboszlai, but attacking players who did not hear the whistle continued to play. Kai Havertz eventually took the ball over Caoimhin Kelleher, tangling with Trent Alexander-Arnold as the ball struck the post, then Gabriel Jesus tapped into an empty net.
As the referee had intervened, Liverpool’s players had stopped, and VAR was unable to get involved, leaving the scoreline locked at 2-2.
From the Reds’ perspective, Arne Slot picked up a second yellow card of the season midway through the second half. For him, three constitutes an immediate touchline ban, and unlike his first against Chelsea the week prior, the head coach explained why his Arsenal booking was unwarranted.
“I said to Ibou (Ibrahima Konate): ‘This is a ****ing joke’, but the fourth official thought I said to him: ‘You are a f***ing joke’, which is definitely not what I said,” Slot clarified, referring to his thoughts on Arsenal players going to ground easily. “I got a yellow for that so now I’m on two and I have to be careful.”
Although the spotlight has been somewhat fixed on the Greater Manchester-born official over these three flashpoints, the Premier League only looks ahead to the next weekend, and Taylor has been given a key role, as per their latest appointments.
After playing them in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, Liverpool host Brighton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. That fixture will be overseen by Tony Harrington, with Chris Kavanagh on VAR duties.
Taylor has been handed the job of officiating Wolves’ match against Crystal Palace instead. Again, he will not be able to escape the spotlight as this fixture has been selected for broadcast by Sky Sports, kicking off at 5:30pm on Saturday.
