The Premier League has issued a statement addressing VAR’s decision not to send off Everton’s James Tarkowski for a strong challenge on Alexis Mac Allister during the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.
In the first half at Anfield, Tarkowski slid in to win the ball from Mac Allister but caught the Argentine’s leg with a high follow-through. Although Mac Allister was able to continue, the incident prompted a VAR review, which ultimately upheld the on-field decision of a yellow card for Tarkowski.
Shortly after, Dominik Szoboszlai’s resulting free kick narrowly missed the target, keeping the score at 0-0.
During Sky Sports’ coverage, Gary Neville commented that Tarkowski was “very lucky” to avoid a red card, calling the challenge a “potential leg breaker.” Former Premier League referee Mike Dean, appearing on Soccer Special, agreed with Neville, stating the tackle should have been reviewed further and resulted in a red card.
The Premier League’s Match Centre later clarified on Twitter that VAR had reviewed the challenge and determined the follow-through to be reckless but not worthy of a red card.
Everton came closest to scoring in the first half when Beto hit the post. The Portuguese forward had also seen an earlier goal disallowed for offside after slipping the ball past Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher but being judged marginally ahead of Virgil van Dijk in the buildup.
Leave a Reply