Taylor fumes over penalty drama as Chelsea reach Conti Cup final

Gareth Taylor was furious with the refereeing decisions towards the end of Manchester City's 1-0 semi-final defeat to Chelsea.

Lauren James' first-half strike sent the Blues to their fifth Conti Cup final in a row final and set up a mouth-watering clash with London rivals Arsenal.

However, Alex Greenwood appeared to be fouled in the box right at the end of the game at the Joie Stadium and City boss Taylor is adamant it should have been a penalty.

The 51-year-old told the BBC: "I just don't understand sometimes these decisions that go against us.

"That's a blatant penalty on Alex Greenwood."

Taylor also explained how disappointed he was with the lack of added time awarded by the officials.

He said: "We're the team with the ascendency, we play five minutes of added time.

"Here earlier in the season it was 11 minutes and went to 13.

"When we went down there [Chelsea] it was nine minutes and goes to 12.

"I mean come on, that's not five minutes there of time when Hannah Hampton is choking the clock up."

But despite losing the game, Taylor was still thrilled with his side's performance as they dominated possession and recorded 10 shots on target.

The City boss said: "We were magnificent tonight. I thought Hampton was their best player and that told a story.

"I couldn't have asked for much more from the players.

"Of course we needed to score a goal but their goalkeeper had to make many saves in the second half."

Manchester City are having a fine season in the Women's Super League and are level on points with Chelsea at the summit.

Taylor was asked whether the loss against their title rivals will have an impact physiologically.

He responded: "No, because it was full of positives. Why would we dwell on it?

"There is so much to take from this game. For us it’s using this game as a benchmark.

"We always knew it was going to be tight margins. When two good teams come together, it's always going to be fairly tight."