Nottingham Forest have formally registered a complaint with PGMOL, claiming that Everton’s James Tarkowski should have been sent off for a shoulder barge from behind on Dan Ndoye that left the Forest winger on the floor.
The off-the-ball clash happened in the 11th minute of Saturday's match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and Forest's bosses believe the result could have been very different had Tarkowski seen red. The score was 1-0 at the time before Forest went on to lose 3-0.
The incident was not seen by on-field referee Chris Kavanagh, but the VAR, James Bell, decided not to intervene.
Bell felt the challenge met the criteria of violent conduct, and so it was not worthy of a red card. The VAR is unable to act in cases where a yellow card might be the appropriate sanction.
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The PGMOL does not comment on confidential communications with clubs.
Forest boss Sean Dyche was "amazed" Tarkowksi was not sent off.
The ex-Everton boss said: "On another day, I'm amazed big Tarky gets away with that but he did.
"Not even a yellow card. It's not a shove if you look at it.
"Players get yellows and reds now for just touching heads together and it's a lot more than that."
Dermot and Bothroyd disagree over Tarkowski caution
The incident was discussed on Sky Sports News' Ref Watch on Monday, and saw ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher and former Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd disagree over the decision.
Gallagher said: "When I watched the game, it didn't leap out to me.
"If the referee sees it, it's a yellow card - it never crosses my mind for it to be a red card."
But Bothroyd argued: "I think it is a red card because the ball has not gone to him yet, he's gone behind him, he's shoulder checked him in his back, maybe even higher.
"It's aggressive. He doesn't need to do it. I don't know why he's done it.
"Ultimately, that's a red card... you can see the way his head jolted back as well."
(c) Sky Sports 2025: Nottingham Forest lodge formal complaint to PGMOL over Everton defender James Tarkowski's off-the-ball clash
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