Thiago Silva Slams Anthony Taylor After Watching Chelsea Lose to Man City

• Brazil defender Thiago Silva aimed a subtle dig at Anthony Taylor after his controversial call in the Chelsea vs Man City game
• The now Fluminese centre-half believes the Blues were shortchanged by Taylor in their Premier League opening match
• Eventually, Silva's former club stumbled to an opening-day defeat to the defending champions at Stamford Bridge

Thiago Silva seemed to take a swipe at referee Anthony Taylor following Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola's side began their Premier League title defence in ideal fashion with a victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored to secure a 2-0 win for the reigning English champions.

In the second half, Chelsea were denied a penalty when the ball struck Kovacic’s arm before going out for a corner.

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And ex-Chelsea skipper Silva has taken a jab at referee Taylor after the game by commenting on an Instagram post about the decision.

He commented: “Anthonyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,” adding a crying laughing emoji, two eye emojis, and a waving hand.

Two years ago, Silva was furious when Taylor missed Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero pulling Marc Cucurella's hair before Spurs scored a late equalizer.

At the time, Silva took to social media and shared a screenshot of the incident with the caption:

“You didn’t see this? Impossible. Are you allowed to pull hair out?”

Why Chelsea were denied penalty for Kovacic handball

The replays showed the ball catching the Croat's underarm, prompting an inquest on what the football laws say. IFAB Law 12 touches on what constitutes a handball. One clause says,

"It will be considered an offence if a player touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation."

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Now, Kovacic's arm was not in a natural position, but the former Chelsea player was saved by the proximity when Gusto took the shot.

The proximity law, which is under the referee's discretion, looks at whether the player had time to get his arms in a natural position before the ball hit his arm.

"The proximity of the player whose hand or arm makes contact with the ball to where the ball was struck from will still be an important consideration for officials when making a decision to award handball or not," reads a Premier League statement.

Kovacic exacted more pain for Chelsea when he scored Manchester City's second goal shortly after as City began their title defence in promising fashion.

Mikel Obi slams Chelsea board

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel is unimpressed with the Chelsea board following their opening day of the 2024/25 Premier League defeat to Manchester City.

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Chelsea crumbled to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in Enzo Maresca’s first league game, with City’s goals coming from Erling Haaland and former blue Mateo Kovacic.

The performance and results indicated that the majority of the problems from last season are still there, particularly in defence and the attacking department.

Source: YEN.com.gh