Liverpool: PGMOL admits latest VAR ‘error’ with ‘red card challenge’ missed in Merseyside derby.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb admitted referee Sam Barrott made a mistake in not sending off James Tarkowski in Everton’s Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool.
The defender caught Alexis Mac Allister high in a studs-up challenge. But avoided the dismissal, with the referee suggesting the “foot has to go somewhere.”
At the time, Barrott, who became a Premier League referee last year, said it was a “follow through” but Webb has now clarified that was an error.
“It’s a red card challenge, it’s an error on the part of the match officials not to send.
“The referee recognises on the field that Tarkowski plays the ball and 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.
“You hear him talking about where else his foot can go – but Tarkowski makes the choice to play the ball in that way.
“When are you clearing or playing the ball close to an opponent, you have to think about the opponent and the way you’re going to go into that challenge, thinking about the safety of the opponent.
“He lunges towards Mac Allister in the way that he does and you see the contact. It’s excessive force and it endangers the safety of the opponent and it should be a red-card offence.”
Webb also addressed whether it โปรโมชั่นพิเศษจาก UFABET สมัครตอนนี้ รับโบนัสทันที being a derby influenced the decision but said the priority is always protecting the players.
“The game has asked us to protect players’ safety. That’s our most important thing as a match official.