Everton star James Tarkowski's wife rages at 'vile' death threats from Liverpool fans over husband's 'leg-breaker' tackle on Alexis Mac Allister
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- James Tarkowski escaped red for brutal tackle in first half of Merseyside derby
- The challenge was widely criticised by fans and pundits after the heated match
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! The signs that Ruben Amorim's Man United side are getting there
James Tarkowski's wife has condemned 'vile' abuse wishing death on her husband following his horror tackle on Alexis Mac Allister in the Merseyside derby.
The Everton captain escaped a red card after planting his boot into the calf of the Liverpool midfielder following a clearance in the early exchanges of the heated fixture.
The 32-year-old received a caution from referee Sam Barrott for the action, while VAR Paul Tierney quickly decided it was neither worthy of a red card, nor a second look via the pitchside monitor.
Minutes later the Premier League released a statement which only added to the confusion. In it, they seemed to defend the decision despite conceding Tarkowski had committed 'a reckless foul'. PGMOL - the referee's governing body for the English game - subsequently admitted that the Englishman should have been dismissed for the challenge.
Tarkowski appeared to apologise to Mac Allister after the final whistle but according to his wife Samantha, this has not stopped commenters on social media from aiming 'disgusting' abuse their way.
'I wasn't actually going to say anything because we usually just laugh if off but f*** it,' she wrote in a statement on Instagram. 'The level of abuse my husband is receiving - wishing death on him, vile comments about me, about us as a couple, and about him as a person - is beyond disgusting.
'People forget that he is more than just a footballer. He is a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, and most importantly, the father of our two children.
'He goes out there and does his job and does it very f****** well yet he's subjected to so much hate. For those acting like he deliberately set out to hurt someone - r u serious?!
'Football moves at speed, and tackles are split-second decisions. No player goes out there to injure someone and do you think any player would feel good about it if they did?
'But the pure s*** messages, the threats? That's intentional. That's on you. Football is a sport, but the way some so-called 'fans' behave is disgraceful.
'The abuse, the threats - it's not passion, it's pathetic. We're real people, and this goes far beyond football.'
The challenge had generated outrage at the time, with Jamie Carragher incandescent in the Sky Sports studio during the broadcaster's coverage of the game, before he expressed his shock that the referee hadn't sent off Tarkowski.
'In terms of refereeing. Barrott is in a brilliant position,' Carragher fumed. 'He has to see that, 'It's a shocking tackle, we know it should be a red card. For Tierney not to give it on VAR is shocking.'
Former Everton forward Duncan Ferguson agreed with Carragher, admitting that his former side should have been reduced to 10 men.
Ferguson said: 'There's no argument, straight red. He knows what he's doing. He's come right through him - that could have been a leg breaker.
'Maybe the referee... it's his first derby, he should have taken it to the monitor.'
Gary Neville expressed a similar belief about Tarkowski's challenge on commentary.
'That's a potential leg breaker,' Neville exclaimed. 'I think he's very lucky there Tarkowski. There will be those that will say it's a natural follow through.
'Trust me as a defender you do not need to follow through like that and with such force and it's high. Very lucky.'
In addition to his apology to MacAllister, Tarkowski admitted his challenge was 'not great'.
The defender, who scored a dramatic late equaliser when the sides met at Goodison Park in February, equalled a Premier League record by becoming the joint-highest recipient of yellow cards in the division's history without seeing red (63).
'It's not a great challenge,' he told Optus Sport. '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.'
Liverpool eventually ran out 1-0 victors in the derby and restored their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League as they canter to a record-equalling 10th top-flight title.
Everton, meanwhile, are 14 points clear of the drop zone despite suffering their first league defeat since David Moyes returned to the club in January.
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