Marcos Alonso reacts to calls for Anthony Taylor to be banned refereeing Chelsea

Marcos Alonso 'liked' an Instagram post referencing a petition calling for Anthony Taylor to be banned from refereeing Chelsea games.

The Premier League referee isn't flavour of the month down at Stamford Bridge after sending off Reece James for deliberate handball in the Blues' 1-1 draw with Liverpool last weekend.

Jame appeared to handle the ball on the line at Anfield, leaving Taylor with little option but to send off the right-back and award the hosts a penalty.

Mohamed Salah duly tucked away the resulting spot-kick and Chelsea were forced to sacrifice attack for defence in the second-half to secure a 1-1 draw after Kai Havertz had opened the scoring.

Despite holding on for a valuable draw, Blues players and fans were not happy with Taylor, with the latter voicing their discontent on social media.

The brunt of the anger focused on the fact that the referee only looked at the pitch-side VAR monitor for a matter of seconds before deciding to award a penalty and issue a red card to James.

Do you agree with Anthony Taylor's decision to send off Reece James? Let us know in the comments section.

Taylor had no doubt that it was handball which means, according to the laws of the game, he had no option but to give the England international defender his marching orders.

In the aftermath of the match, a petition was set up calling to "Ban Anthony ‘bald’ Taylor from refereeing Chelsea games."

It has since attracted over 75,000 signatures – and the inadvertent support of Chelsea full-back Alonso.

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Blues fan account Chelsea Pulse uploaded a screenshot of the petition to Instagram and eagle-eyed fans spotted the Spaniard had liked it.

The petition allows supporters to leave their own comments – and Chelsea fans have not been holding back their dislike for Taylor.

One wrote: "Anthony Taylor is a bias referee when it comes to Chelsea FC matches. We've witnessed him ruin too many matches."

Someone else added: "Massive decisions have always gone against Chelsea in recent seasons when Anthony Taylor has been in charge."

"Should be stopped by fire officiating Chelsea match or he should be forced to wear wig during the matcch," was the bizarre view of another disgruntled fan.

Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table after Saturday's draw with Liverpool and will take on Aston Villa in their next fixture after the international break.

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