James Tarkowski and Alexis Mac Allister moment at full-time spoke volumes after ugly tackle

James Tarkowski and were involved in one of the biggest flashpoints of Wednesday's Merseyside derby when the Everton captain's crunching challenge left the midfielder writhing on the turf in agony.

Tarkowski won the ball but , prompting a VAR review for a possible red card early on in the first half.

Surprisingly, the video assistant referee — which was to show Tarkowski a yellow card — and the Toffees center-back remained on the pitch.

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A Premier League explainer published on X said: "The referee’s call of yellow card for a reckless foul by Tarkowski was checked by the VAR, with contact on the follow through after Tarkowski had played the ball deemed to be reckless."

Despite the brutal nature of the challenge, Tarkowski and Mac Allister appeared to have put the incident behind them as they embraced after the final whistle. Tarkowski collared Mac Allister on the pitch and appeared to check how he was, and Mac Allister responded with a smile on his face, suggesting that he held no ill will against the former Burnley player.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot addressed Tarkowski's challenge in a post-match interview with Sky Sports, saying: "He (Mac Allister) is OK because he kept on playing, so I assume he's OK. He's used to challenges like that from South America! Enough has been said about it (Tarkowski's tackle) so it's not necessary for me to comment. It could have been a serious injury but it wasn't, fortunately."

Everton boss David Moyes was also asked about the tackle and said: "My first thought was that it was a brilliant tackle for a derby game. A tackle we would have seen a few years ago. I understand nowadays things are slightly different with follow-throughs. We might have got a bit lucky, don't put that with the goal because the goal was a different incident that won Liverpool the game."

Gary Neville said on Sky Sports: "That's a potential leg-breaker. I think he's very lucky there. There will be those that say it's a natural follow-through. If you're a defender, Carragher will be able to tell you even better than me, you don't need to follow through like that. Such force, and it's high. He's very lucky."