Anthony Taylor learns verdict after Premier League panel decides on controversial call

Anthony Taylor has found himself at the centre of more controversy after a Premier League panel ruled that Morgan Gibbs-White should not have been sent off in Nottingham Forest's draw with Brighton.

Taylor served as fourth official for the match at the Amex Stadium - one of two matches during the most recent Premier League gameweek where he had that honour. He was taken off refereeing duty after receiving online threats in the aftermath of Bournemouth vs Chelsea the previous weekend - a game in which he handed out a record 14 yellow cards to players and two to coaches.

Rob Jones was the man in the middle for Brighton vs Forest, where Gibbs-White was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Joao Pedro. Jones consulted with Taylor and others before deciding to send off the England international.

Both managers, Forest's Nuno Espirito Santo and Brighton's Fabian Hurzeler, were sent off for their reactions to the incident. The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel has looked into a number of contentious incidents from the last gameweek, arguing by a three-to-two margin that Gibbs-White should have stayed on the field.

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According to panel verdicts shared by ESPN, the argument for Gibbs-White avoiding his second yellow card was that it was "a strong challenge made at full speed but below the threshold for a second caution". On the other side of the argument, one claimed "the intensity of the challenge is too high and it's a reckless tackle showing disregard to the consequences for the opponent".

Taylor and fellow ref Michael Oliver will both be in the middle for matchday six despite both being involved in controversies. Oliver was in charge of Manchester City vs Arsenal on Sunday, showing Gunners star Leandro Trossard a second yellow card for delaying the restart, and the panel ruled by four to one that this decision was the correct one.

"I don't want to say too much, but the referee, for me, they have to do their job to keep the game good to watch, but in these kinds of actions they don't have to put themselves too much," Trossard's team-mate Riccardo Calafiori told Sky Sports after the game.

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Other decisions reviewed by the panel include West Ham's rejected penalty appeal against Chelsea and a challenge from Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez against Crystal Palace. They found that Wesley Fofana's pull on Crysencio Summerville should have seen a penalty awarded on the pitch, but that the threshold wasn't high enough to award it via VAR after on-field ref Sam Barrott said no.

United defender Martinez was booked after jumping into a challenge with Palace's Daichi Kamada. "The panel felt very strongly that this type of challenge has no place on the pitch," the written findings said, but on-field referee David Coote was unanimously deemed to have made the right decision on the grounds that Martinez landed on the ball rather than making contact with his opponent.

Pundit Mark Warburton saw things differently during BBC Radio 5 Live coverage, though. "I am amazed that Lisandro Martinez was not sent off for that tackle, it could've broken Kamada's ankle and it's not the tackle we want to see in our game," the former QPR and Rangers manager said.

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