Tarkowski should have seen red, says referee body

James Tarkowski should have been sent off during Everton’s defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday, the Premier League’s refereeing body has acknowledged.

Tarkowski caught Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister just below the knee with his studs in the 11th minute of the Merseyside derby at Anfield.

The Everton centre-back was shown a yellow card and the video assistant referee (VAR) decided to take no further action after a 10-second review.

But BBC Sport has been told by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) the tackle met the threshold for serious foul play.

The view of PGMOL is that an on-field review should have been recommended to referee Sam Barrott and ultimately the original decision overturned.

Referee Barrott felt the challenge was reckless in real time and VAR Paul Tierney deemed that call not to be a clear and obvious error.

The PGMOL says it wants to operate in a transparent way by admitting mistakes, and felt this incident needed to be addressed immediately, rather than waiting for referees’ chief Howard Webb’s next ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ appearance.

Everton manager David Moyes admitted Tarkowksi was fortunate to stay on the pitch, and Tarkowski apologised to Mac Allister at full-time.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who will speak to the media on Thursday morning, said “even people who are not liking Liverpool a lot are saying how clear and obvious it was”.