The big talking point to come out of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby victory over Everton was not Diogo Jota’s goal — rather it was James Tarkowski‘s shocking first-half challenge on Alexis Mac Allister.
The Toffees center-back was cautioned after cleaning Mac Alister out during the first half, but replays showed he should have been shown a straight red card. Shockingly, the video assistant referee did not advise the on-field referee to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, and the yellow card was not upgraded.
On Thursday, the Premier League’s refereeing body (the Professional Game Match Officials) acknowledged to the BBC that the decision not to send Tarkowski off was the wrong one. Tarkowski has been a central figure in back-to-back Merseyside derbies, after his late equalizer sparked pandemonium at Goodison Park in February.
Tarkowski’s counterpart, Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk, said after the first derby of the season that the game was “Everton’s cup final”, in comments that will have delighted Liverpool fans and riled Everton supporters in equal measure. And Van Dijk nailed his colors to the mast once more during the reverse game at Anfield on Wednesday, slamming Tarkowski to the ground in the Everton penalty during the second half in a moment that Reds fans loved.
A fan shared footage of the incident, which we cannot share due to rights restrictions, alongside the caption: “Van Dijk putting Tarkowski in his place”. Another fan replied: “Virgil is such a bully and I love it.”
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was not keen to add fuel to the fire when he was asked about the Tarkowski-Mac Allister incident in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, but it was clear from his response that he believed the challenge was worthy of a red card.
(Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
“He is [ok] because he kept on playing, so I assume he’s ok,” Slot said of Mac Allister’s state. “And he’s used to something [like this] because he’s from South America. I think everybody has said something about it so why should I add something to it? It’s so obvious that it’s not necessary for me to comment.
“Everyone else did and I would prefer to talk about Diogo’s goal, or Curtis Jones’ performance, or something else than about the red card incident. It could have been [a serious injury], but wasn’t fortunately. He was lucky about that.”
Everton boss David Moyes was also asked about the tackle and said: “My first thought was that it was a brilliant tackle for a derby game. A tackle we would have seen a few years ago. I understand nowadays things are slightly different with follow-throughs. We might have got a bit lucky, don’t put that with the goal because the goal was a different incident that won Liverpool the game.”
