English referee Anthony Taylor had to face enraged AS Roma fans after making some questionable decisions in Wednesday’s Europa League final between Sevilla and AS Roma.
After angry AS Roma fans raged at the referee, airport police escorted Taylor and his family into a room. After Sevilla’s penalty shootout victory, many Roma fans and coach Jose Mourinho voiced their displeasure with the English referee.
In a video that went viral on social media, fans were seen chanting angrily, throwing kicks, water, and even a chair at the referee Anthony Taylor for making controversial decisions. The airport police were then compelled to segregate him and his family.
Ref Anthony Taylor, getting attacked at the airport by Roma fans đâď¸ pic.twitter.com/nvuAFNCbR6
— Football Fights (@footbalIfights) June 2, 2023
Why are Roma fans so angry at referee Taylor?
Anthony Taylor was tasked with calming a volatile situation in Budapest. He issued the most ever in a single Europa League game, with 14 yellow cards between Roma and Sevilla.
Taylor and his crew of officials made a series of questionable penalty calls, which only added to the mounting tensions in the stadium. Roma’s Paulo Dybala scored the game’s first goal, but an own goal by Gianluca Mancini knotted the score at halftime.
After 120 minutes of play, the score remained tied at one. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Sevilla prevailed, handing Mourinho his first loss in a European championship game.
Taylor’s most contentious call was to ask for a retake during the penalty shootout, which led to Gonzalo Montiel of Sevilla scoring the game-winning penalty. Although the Argentine’s initial shot was blocked, Roma’s Rui Patricio was penalized for a defensive miscue.
Angry that crucial calls went against their team, Roma supporters confronted Taylor at the airport as he tried to leave Budapest, apparently intending to exact revenge.
What happened between Jose Mourinho and Anthony Taylor?
In another video footage that surfaced online, AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho was seen lashing out angry words at Anthony Taylor for his controversial decisions.
“It’s a f*cking disgrace man. Rosetti knew it wasn’t a penalty but you weren’t able to figure it out yourself. F*ck off,” said Jose during the encounter.
Jose Mourinho waited outside to call Anthony Taylor a 'f*cking crook' đł pic.twitter.com/0BrQfTZL9x
— GOAL (@goal) June 1, 2023
Mourinho’s anger came from the fact that the referee decided against giving a penalty for Roma in the 81st minute of the game, after Nemanja Matic’s cross hit Fernando’s hand inside the penalty box, as seen in this video footage:
Behold, It's Anthony Taylor ! pic.twitter.com/tdqjJz60F9
— MourinhoXtra⢠(@Mourinho_Xtra) June 2, 2023
UEFA is waiting on the referee’s match report before deciding whether to take any action against Mourinho.
