Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Virgil van Dijk's tackle on Amadou Onana in the Merseyside derby only warranted a yellow card, despite calls it should have been a red.
The fiery clash at Goodison Park ended in a 0-0 draw over the weekend, although the Blues were denied a second-half goal after VAR stepped in to rule out Conor Coady's effort. Liverpool defender Van Dijk was cautioned in the 76th minute for the late challenge on Everton's new signing.
However, Onana and Everton boss Frank Lampard believed the Dutchman should have been issued a red card for the tackle and a number of supporters criticised VAR for not stepping in to change the decision.
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Gallagher is the latest ex-referee to give his verdict on the challenge but he was of the belief a yellow card was the fair decision. He told Sky Sports' 'Ref Watch' : "I think yellow card, he goes down but the maximum impact comes on top of the foot. Because he’s come a short distance he hasn’t got the speed and intensity, he goes down, catches him but the big impact is on the bottom of the foot."
Pressed on the position of the ball in relation to the contact, Gallagher added: "I didn’t say it wasn’t a foul, it’s a foul and a yellow card."
Peter Walton and Chris Foy, both ex-refs, also explained why the defender only saw yellow for the 'reckless' challenge. “Anthony Taylor had an excellent Merseyside derby and he was absolutely right to show the yellow card to Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for his challenge on Amadou Onana,” Foy told the Daily Mail. “For the challenge to be deemed dangerous and worthy of a red you have to look at speed and intensity of challenge, use of excessive force, and there was none of that. It was reckless.”
Lampard, though, believes referee Anthony Taylor made the wrong call and the decision should have gone to VAR. The Everton boss said after the game: "The referee hasn't gone to look at it and hasn't had the chance to make the correct decision. For me, it was a red card and of course that changes the face of the last 20 minutes or so. I just feel the referee got that one wrong."
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