'I spoke to him' - What James Tarkowski said to Alexis Mac Allister as Everton man fumes at Liverpool winner
James Tarkowski has addressed the two big flashpoints of Everton's 1-0 Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool at Anfield
James Tarkowski has confirmed he has apologised to Alexis Mac Allister for his poor challenge on the Liverpool midfielder in last night's Merseyside derby. And the Everton defender has called the decision to allow the winning goal to stand as "bizarre".
The Anfield encounter was settled by a 57th-minute finish from Diogo Jota that was set up by Luis Diaz, who was offside in the build-up.
VAR checked the goal and cleared the on-field decision made by the officials. Speaking after Liverpool's 1-0 win, Tarkowski struggled to understand why Jota's strike was given.
But the centre-back held his hands up about his early foul on Mac Allister.
Tarkowski was booked and was relieved when VAR opted against upgrading the original decision to a red card. The PGMOL have subsequently admitted that the yellow card should have been overturned and the former Burnley man sent off.
Tarkowski, who was captaining Everton, told Optus Sport: "I spoke to him (Mac Allister) 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."
While fortune favoured the Blues in that instance, manager David Moyes and his players were furious about what proved to be the winning goal for Liverpool.
Tarkowski said: "We weren't great on the ball, we didn't move it well enough, they pressured us well, and we gave it back a lot of the time.
"But we made a couple of good chances, one for Beto, and I've seen the goal back and it's offside. That's decided the game and it shouldn't have been given.
"I wasn't aware he (Diaz) was offside, so I have to play the ball, like he's onside. I end up lunging for the ball because I think he might nick in front, so he's affecting my decision to play, so if he's stood in an offside position then surely that's a deciding factor.
"For some reason they've decided to give them the goal, which is bizarre."
The ECHO understands officials in Stockley Park ruled that Diaz did not impact Tarkowski and his ability to play the ball and therefore did not believe the on-field decision should be overturned.