James Tarkowski should have been sent off against Liverpool, admits PGMOL

The Premier League referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL), has acknowledged that Everton’s James Tarkowski should have been sent off early on in their defeat at Liverpool. Arne Slot welcomed the move on Thursday after Tarkowski was only cautioned for a reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister.

The referee, Sam Barrott, gave Tarkowski a yellow card and David Moyes conceded the defender was fortunate to stay on the pitch. PGMOL believes the video assistant referee, Paul Tierney, should have recommended a review.

There was a VAR check but Tierney decided no further action was necessary because he felt the referee’s call was not a clear and obvious error. PGMOL notes that Tarkowski initially played the ball but deems that his follow-through on Mac Allister met the threshold for serious foul play, and therefore was worthy of a red card. Howard Webb, the head of PGMOL, has contacted Liverpool to admit the latest high-profile error involving VAR.

Slot, speaking at his press conference to preview Sunday’s visit to Fulham, welcomed PGMOL’s response on Thursday and said refereeing standards had been adequate in the Premier League this season.

“It is always good if they think they made a mistake that they acknowledge that,” said Slot. “We all know mistakes are being made in a football match, by us, by me, by referees. It is good that they acknowledged the mistake, but it was so clear. There were so many pundits that are not Liverpool fans who were clear on it as well.

“We are all aiming for a league without mistakes. I am aiming for a season without me making one mistake in my lineups. But unfortunately, this will probably never happen. Not with me and not with refereeing decisions. I follow the Dutch league and there is so, so, so, so much criticism of the referees over there and it is something that is inside this world. If there is a possibility to be negative, eight out of 10 people want to be negative. So if a referee makes a wrong decision, everyone will fall over it.

“I think it is quite an OK season for the referees in England actually. Mistakes are being made, but the most important thing is that it doesn’t influence the league table and that will be seen at the end of the season.”

Moyes, the Everton manager, said: “We could have been lucky we didn’t get a red. It looked a high one.”

Tierney is scheduled to be the VAR for the Manchester derby on Sunday, while Barrott is due to be the fourth official at Ipswich’s home game with Wolves on Saturday and Southampton’s trip to Tottenham on Sunday.