Mike Dean says there was a serious error made during Everton vs Nottingham Forest

Mike Dean believes James Tarkowski should’ve been sent off

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Special, veteran referee Dean believed that James Tarkowski was very lucky to not receive a second yellow card after fouling Wood just before halftime.

Tarkowski slid in from behind as Wood broke into the Everton final third. He didn’t win the ball, but he didn’t even receive a foul, much less a yellow card.

“Tarkowski is lucky to be on the pitch; it should have been a second yellow card,” Dean reacted to this.

Against Forest, Tarkowski was sent off within ten minutes after he caught Ramon Sosa with a shoddy tackle that resulted in Tony Harrington’s card.
Despite the contentious judgment, the match statistics demonstrated that Forest played brilliantly without requiring the man advantage.

Stats highlight another brilliant Forest away day

Forest have a knack for excellent away performances at the moment, with Sunday’s win over Everton very similar to Forest’s win over Brentford.

Despite possessing only 37% of the ball, Espirito Santo’s team outperformed Everton in terms of xG and prevented their hosts from getting any significant chances.

Surprisingly, the Forest defense also made 41 clearances during the game, demonstrating how well they adjusted to Everton’s second-half shift to a very direct style of play.

Regardless of whether Tarkowski should have been sent off or not, it was evident that Forest was winning, and Espirito Santo and his Forest coaching staff were enjoying a relatively easy 2024 final encounter.