John Stones questions referee Anthony Taylor as Manchester City 'ended up on the bad side' of late Chelsea brawl

Tom Doyle5 December 2016

John Stones has suggested that Manchester City were treated unfairly during the late brawl which saw Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho sent off in the 3-1 defeat against Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola's City led Chelsea at Etihad Stadium on Saturday through a Gary Cahill own goal, but Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard struck to secure all three Premier League points for Antonio Conte's visitors.

Aguero was sent off in injury time for a high, late lunge on David Luiz, while referee Anthony Taylor also dismissed Fernandinho win the ensuing melee after the City midfielder pushed Cesc Fabregas over the advertising boards.

City fans were aggrieved at what they felt to be a number of questionable decisions by Taylor throughout the game, and centre-back Stones believes that Chelsea got off lightly in the late confrontations compared to his team-mates.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Swansea City | 03/12/2016

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Stones told BBC Sport: "In those situations you go in there and back your team-mates up, both teams do that.

"I don't want to say too much and get in trouble for saying things but I think we have ended up on the bad side of what happened.

"I know Sergio's tackle was in no way good, but what happened after that when a few of their boys came in I didn't think it was fairly balanced."

City boss Guardiola apologised for the controversial scenes following Aguero's red card, saying after the game: "It is a pity it finished like this. It was the way the referee decided. I don't like that, I apologise for what happened."

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