Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher says James Tarkowski’s challenge on Alexis Mac Allister in the Merseyside derby “ticked all the boxes” for a red card and that he should have been sent off.
Everton defender Tarkowski met the leg of Liverpool’s Mac Allister high and with force when following through on a tackle in which he first won the ball during the Toffees’ 1-0 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday.
Referee Sam Barrott only awarded a yellow card and VAR Paul Tierney decided against recommending an on-field review – a decision PGMOL has acknowledged was incorrect, Sky Sports News understands.
Speaking on Ref Watch, Gallagher said: “I was [of the opinion it should be red]. It’s a very bad tackle.
“You look at the tick boxes – speed, intensity, point of contact, out of control. It ticks them all. I thought it was red when VAR were checking and I thought the referee would be referred to the screen.
“If he had, I don’t think there’s any doubt he would have been sent off. It’s quite refreshing to see PGMOL come out this morning and say they think it’s a red card.
“What you’ve got to remember is the challenge has not got to tick all of those to be red, it’s got to tick one or two.
“It was a red card, it wasn’t a good tackle. Mac Allister is lucky, he could have come off much worse.
“We’re looking for VAR to learn and move on from it. There has been this thing about on-field decisions taking priority but in this case it’s just a misjudgement.
“PGMOL must start reviewing from today. In Sam Barrott’s defence, I think he’s going to be one of the best referees this country ever sees. I made big mistakes when I was learning. It’s about how strong he comes out of this.”
There were plenty of other incidents in a feisty Merseyside derby. Read on for Gallagher’s verdict on those and more from the midweek Premier League games…
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
INCIDENT: Diogo Jota scored the winning goal for Liverpool. It was not ruled out for offside on Luis Diaz, who looked to interfere with play.
DERMOT SAYS: “Referees have to apply the law. They might not like it but they have to apply it. Without doubt Diaz is in an offside position but that isn’t an offence.
“Tarkowski engages the ball and then the play rolls on and a goal is scored. Does Diaz prevent an opponent from playing the ball or challenge for it? No. Does his action impact on the defender? Only Tarkowski knows that.”
INCIDENT: Jota was also spotted sarcastically clapping after being booked for dissent towards the assistant referee. He was not given a second yellow card for doing so.
DERMOT SAYS: “He got a yellow. It’s difficult to see players booked twice for the same offence. We saw this with Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal at Wolves.
“I think the referee dealt with this well. We’d be talking a lot more about it if the referee had produced a red card.”
INCIDENT: Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford kicked Darwin Nunez as the two played on after the whistle went. However, he was not booked..
DERMOT SAYS: “This is the biggest dilemma in football for me. It’s not clever by Pickford and then Nunez gets a yellow for rolling back onto the pitch to receive treatment. I can understand Nunez being upset.”
Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa
INCIDENT: Jacob Ramsey was felled by Jack Hinshelwood inside the Brighton box but no penalty was given.
DERMOT SAYS: “I think it’s a penalty. He doesn’t get the ball and quite clearly he takes the man. The referee for whatever reason doesn’t see it and VAR says it doesn’t meet the threshold. It’s a big dilemma.”
INCIDENT: Simon Adingra’s equaliser was chalked off by VAR after Kaoru Mitoma was deemed to have handled the ball in the build up.
DERMOT SAYS: “The VAR gave this, not the referee. VAR decided Mitoma had taken the ball in the crook of his elbow and that was a deliberate action. The referee was sent to the screen to review it and agreed, so it was disallowed.”
Man City 2-0 Leicester
INCIDENT: James Justin clashed with Jeremy Doku inside the box.
DERMOT SAYS: “Minimal contact. Not [a penalty] for me. The players are just coming together.”
INCIDENT: Bilal El Khannouss clipped Jack Grealish.
DERMOT SAYS: “If you watch, it’s in the swing of Grealish – he misses the ball and catches the opposition player. The defender does very little, or nothing, wrong.”