Chelsea fans start petition calling for Anthony Taylor ban after Tottenham controversy

Furious Chelsea fans have started an online petition to ban Anthony Taylor from officiating their games in the future after a controversial 2-2 draw with Tottenham. The Blues were aggrieved after Taylor made two key decisions in the match which helped Spurs snatch an unlikely point at Stamford Bridge.

The petition had gathered over 10,000 signatures within an hour of being set up as Chelsea fans vented their frustration over Taylor’s performance. At the time of writing, over 75,000 people have signed their names to show their support.

According to the host website Change.org, the petition was filed by a member named ‘CFCDubois’. It comes after Sunday’s fiery clash — dubbed ‘Battle of the Bridge Part Two’ to follow the infamous 2015-16 clash — produced four goals and two scuffles between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte.

Both managers were dismissed by Taylor after the final whistle after clashing on two occasions as tempers flared in sweltering conditions in west London.

READ MORE: Tuchel and Conte sent off as feud erupts

Tuchel documented his dissatisfaction with Taylor’s performance, suggesting the 43-year-old “maybe shouldn’t” referee another Chelsea game in the future in his post-match interview.

The German felt that Richarlison was offside and interfering in the line of sight of Edouard Mendy when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg struck from 20 yards out to make it 1-1 after Kalidou Koulibaly had opened the scoring. He also pointed out that Kai Havertz was hacked down by Rodrigo Bentancur 40 seconds before the goal, but no foul was awarded.

Then, in the 94th minute, Cristian Romero appeared to pull the hair of Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella at a corner only a few yards in front of Taylor, which could have been interpreted as violent conduct. But play went on after a VAR check and Spurs found a stoppage-time equaliser through Harry Kane to spark wild scenes in the away end.

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Taylor was the man in the middle in the 2019-20 FA Cup final when Mateo Kovacic was shown a highly-contested red card against Arsenal for two bookable offences. He also sent off Reece James last season against Liverpool for allegedly handling on the goal line at Anfield.

Other incidents cited include a ‘kick’ from ex-Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga on Marcos Alonso, a Harry Maguire ‘stamp’ on Michy Batshuayi and two separate incidents involving Cesar Azpilicueta.

And it seems Tuchel may be on their side after risking the wrath of the Football Association by making his post-match comments.