Referee Anthony Taylor sent a player off for a second bookable offence during Dynamo Kiev vs Benfica last night, despite the fact he hadn’t been booked previously.
Taylor has already been under the microscope in recent weeks for his decision to send Chelsea defender Reece James off for an accidental handball at Anfield.
Whether the criticism from Chelsea fans has gone to his head remains to be seen, but he had a bit of a nightmare while officiating Dynamo Kiev vs Benfica yesterday evening.
Taylor gave Dynamo Kiev’s Denys Garmash his marching orders for a second bookable offence, before realising he hadn’t actually booked him in the first place…
Anthony Taylor gave Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Denys Garmash his second yellow card and sent him off vs. Benfica.
Except, he hadn’t been booked yet… 😂#UCL pic.twitter.com/dB0iBJRlEy
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 14, 2021
Anthony ‘bald’ Taylor, the joke of a referee who gave a ‘second’ yellow and a red to a player who didn’t even get a first…
Big disgrace to England in Europe last night…
They tot we were biased protesting against his officiating…
😡😡😡 pic.twitter.com/RAsqSstPhR— Waky Konah (@WakyKonah) September 15, 2021
Thankfully, Taylor has the ability to recognise the mistake and correct it, but it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing for the Premier League official.
Referees’ every move are analysed, so to make such a blatantly obvious error on a stage as big as a Champions League game is going to do him no favours moving forward.