‘Hats off’ – Journalist keen to praise one man who went under the radar in Liverpool’s win v City | OneFootball

Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai grabbed the headlines with their goals as Liverpool beat Manchester City on Sunday, but one journalist was keen to praise another man on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium.

A high-stakes, high-profile fixture between two elite clubs who’ve developed a strong rivalry over the past decade can be a daunting one to referee, but for Anthony Taylor, the weekend’s meeting of the Premier League leaders against the reigning champions passed off with relative comfort.

It hasn’t always been that way – Raheem Sterling’s disallowed goal for a non-existent offside in 2013/14 still rankles, as does Vincent Kompany escaping a red card for a high lunge on Mo Salah five seasons later (ironically, the Mancunian whistler  also took charge of that game).

Taylor praised for refereeing performance in Liverpool win

However, in an article for the Daily Mail, Lewis Steele singled out the official for praise over his performance in Liverpool’s win three days ago.

In a section titled ‘Hats off to Taylor’, the journalist wrote: “We’re always quick to criticise referees in football so let’s take a moment to appreciate what a solid officiating performance looks like: Anthony Taylor on Sunday as Liverpool beat Manchester City.

“Zero cards is the headline figure but that was more down to the fact he let the game flow. No needless free-kicks, no early bookings to leave him in a sticky situation. It was a good display and he had full control of the game.

“Although, saying that, maybe the lack of bookings was down to the fact Manchester City simply could not get near Liverpool!”

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Taylor contributed to an enjoyable watch on Sunday

It’s a fact of life that referees will be roundly criticised when they make grievous high-profile errors – and they need to be held accountable for some inexplicable decisions we see given in the Premier League – but will go under the radar when they have a match free of any controversy.

Credit to Steele, therefore, for rightly acknowledging that Taylor contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable game to watch on Sunday (and not just because Liverpool won!).

There were two big decisions for the officials to make on the day, with a goal for either team being correctly disallowed for narrow offside infringements, but the on-field referee blew for only 13 fouls across the 90 minutes and was as unfussy as they come.

Contrast that with the 28 free kicks and four yellow cards that Simon Hooper dished out in our recent victory over Wolves, or Oliver blowing for 29 fouls (20 for the Reds) and reaching for his pocket with wanton abandon in a Merseyside derby dogged by baffling refereeing calls.

The standard of officiating in the Premier League still needs to improve considerably, but when the officials have a good day, it should also be acknowledged. We echo Steele’s praise of how Taylor handled a potential powderkeg of a fixture at the Etihad on Sunday, with a no-frills outing which ensured that the players and not he would be the headline act.