The Blues lost 2-0 against Man United on Monday night and Frank Lampard’s side were at the receiving end of three VAR calls, one of which was the kicking incident involving Harry Maguire and Michy Batshuayi in the first half.
The United captain was simply trying to shepherd the ball out of play when Batshuayi barged him to the floor, and as a clear act of dissent, Maguire grazed his studs into the Belgian striker’s unmentionables in his groin area.
“On first viewing, I wanted to support Maguire, thinking maybe he had caught the Chelsea striker in his follow-through after challenging for the ball,” the 44-year-old explained.
“But replays showed the United defender made a clear second movement towards Batshuayi which he could have avoided. He made a stamping motion into Batshuayi’s groin and should have seen red.
“VAR looked at this but did not deem it a clear error by referee Anthony Taylor, and this is where the inconsistencies lie.
“Let’s not forget Taylor was the man in the middle when Tottenham’s Son Heung-min made a similar foul on Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger in December.
“Taylor missed the challenge by Maguire, but had he gone to his pitch-side monitor, I’m sure he would have sent him off.”
Despite vehement protestations from the Chelsea bench, referee Anthony Taylor never had a look at the monitor himself and VAR Chris Kavanagh saw no ‘clear and obvious error’ in the on-field referee’s call to overturn the decision.
Maguire eventually went on to play a key role in United’s victory, scoring the second of the night for the Red Devils with a towering header in the second half.