'He endangers Alexis Mac Allister's safety!' - James Tarkowski called out by PGMOL chief Howard Webb for shocking challenge in Everton's loss at Liverpool and claims defender should have been sent off

The PGMOL boss admitted that it should have been a straight red card for Everton captain Turkowski for his horror challenge on Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister in the Merseyside derby earlier this month. The on-field referee, Sam Barrott, awarded a foul and showed a yellow card to Tarkowski. VAR Paul Tierney then reviewed the incident for a potential red card, but he concluded that the Toffees skipper had won the ball first and that the subsequent contact was unavoidable. Tierney and AVAR Adam Nunn approved the on-field decision of a yellow card.

Speaking on Match Officials Mic'd Up, Webb said: "This is a red-card challenge. It’s an error by the officials not to send Tarkowski off. From the outset with this show, we’ve committed to showing good examples of VAR use and also where we don't use it in the right way, and this was one of those examples.

"The referee recognises on the field that Tarkowski plays the ball and feels that the way he does so is reckless. The VAR then checks that on-field decision of a yellow card and puts too much focus on the fact that Tarkowski plays the ball."But Tarkowski makes a choice to play the ball in that way. Players have to consider their opponent’s safety, even when playing the ball. Tarkowski lunges into the challenge using excessive force and endangers Mac Allister’s safety. It should have been a red card."

After the game, Turkowski admitted that it was a poor challenge and that he had apologised to the Argentine. He had told the reporters, "It's not a great challenge. I spoke to him and I apologised because it's not a great tackle. When the ball fell between us, I thought he was just going to come and I was expecting a big old-school 50-50 tackle but he just pulled out the tackle and as I lunged in I followed through and caught him pretty high so I've apologised to him and he's accepted it. Yeah, not a great one from me."

Arne Slot's side could seal their record-equalling 20th English top-flight this Sunday as they host a struggling Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.