Premier League referee chiefs have acknowledged that James Tarkowski should have been sent off for his horror tackle on Alexis Mac Allister during Wednesday’s Merseyside derby.
Everton captain Tarkowski initially played the ball with his sliding challenge but then caught the Liverpool midfielder high in his follow-through and was shown a yellow card by referee Sam Barrott.
That decision was confirmed by VAR, who felt Barrott’s assessment of the challenge as “reckless” was not a clear and obvious error.
However, it is understood that after reviewing the incident, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have accepted that Tarkowski’s tackle constituted serious foul play and should therefore have seen the centre-back’s punishment upgraded to a red card via VAR review.
The incident occurred during the first-half of the Anfield clash, which Liverpool went on to win 1-0 through Diogo Jota’s goal, extending their lead at the top of the table to 12 points.
Former top-flight referee Mike Dean said he was “astounded” that Tarkowski had not been sent off, while Everton boss David Moyes admitted his player was “lucky”.
“I don’t want to comment about the situation because so many people already commented on that,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said after the game.
“Even people who don’t like Liverpool a lot were so clear and obvious about what the decision should have been. Was I surprised? No.”
