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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

James Tarkowski, confused pundits and a mess that’s hard to handle

James Tarkowski (right), either promoting sleeve sponsors Christopher Ward or bemoaning the decision to award Leeds a penalty for handball.
James Tarkowski (right), either promoting sleeve sponsors Christopher Ward or bemoaning the decision to award Leeds a penalty for handball. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

TARK ARTS?

We can only speculate about what David Moyes would have said in his post-match press conference if it had been his team who had been awarded a penalty in identical circumstances to those leading to Leeds United scoring their winner against Everton last night, but there really isn’t much point. Like pretty much every football manager, Everton’s tends to be pretty consistent in his view that debatable decisions that go in favour of his players are correct and to be commended, while those which go against them are not and should be criticised. Twas ever thus, so it was no surprise that when James Tarkowski was penalised for deliberately leaning to his left to stop a ball that would otherwise have not struck his arm at a febrile Elland Road, Moyes decided his player and team had been extremely hard done by, even if did seem fairly relaxed and wasn’t in full-on Begbie radge-funk mode.

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