The PGMOL, English football’s refereeing body, have confirmed their stance that James Tarkowski should have been sent off for his tackle on Alexis Mac Allister.
Tarkowski avoided dismissal in the opening stages of Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Everton despite a studs-up challenge which could have left Mac Allister with a serious injury.
Fortunately, Mac Allister was able to play on, but the force with which the Everton defender collided with his planted leg was clearly worthy of a red card.
Referee Sam Barrott’s decision was to caution Tarkowski, which VAR Paul Tierney decided was not a clear and obvious error.
Therefore, Tierney did not intervene and recommend a further review and a dismissal – which the PGMOL have now admitted was wrong.
"For Paul Tierney not to give it on VAR is SHOCKING"
"That's a straight red, ALL DAY LONG"No doubts from Jamie Carragher and Duncan Ferguson that James Tarkowski should have seen red for his challenge on Alexis Mac Allister ? pic.twitter.com/wqvNqqEurB
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 2, 2025
This Is Anfield understands the refereeing body felt Tarkowski’s challenge met the threshold for serious foul play.
Barrott is understood to have viewed the tackle as reckless which Tierney upheld, in another high-profile error from the latter.
Eyebrows were raised when Tierney was appointed VAR for the derby, given his history of controversial decisions whether as a referee or in the booth at Stockley Park.
Last season, per ESPN, no official made more VAR errors than the 44-year-old.
That included his failure to overturn a red card for Mac Allister in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign.
The referee that day was Thomas Bramall – an official of similar experience to Barrott – who sent Mac Allister off for a routine boot-on-boot foul on Ryan Christie.
While the decision was unclear in realtime, Tierney had the benefit of a number of slo-motion replays and, as with Wednesday’s derby, did not deem it a clear and obvious error.
Mac Allister’s red card was overturned following an appeal, with the PGMOL admitting fault, and this latest development has followed the same vein.
Fan Comments