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

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Nottingham Forest saw out 2024 with a 2-0 win against Everton, leaving Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the Champions League positions going into 2025.

Forest beat Everton thanks to a brilliant first-half chip by Chris Wood and a Morgan Gibbs-White strike, with the three points securing Forest’s place in the top four in the Premier League table going into the new year.

The task was not an easy one for the Forest manager, with Ryan Yates suspended for the Everton clash and Murillo picking up a worrying knock in the pre-match warm-up.

However, the task could’ve been made simpler for Forest if one refereeing decision was made in the first half, with former referee Mike Dean believing an error was made at Goodison Park.

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.

With Wood breaking into the Everton final third, Tarkowski slid in from behind and didn’t win the ball but not even a foul was given, let alone a yellow card.

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

Tarkowski was booked inside ten minutes against Forest, catching Ramon Sosa with a poor tackle that brought out a card from Tony Harrington.

The match stats showed that Forest performed brilliantly without needing the man advantage, though, despite the controversial decision.

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.

With only 37% of the ball, Espirito Santo’s side had a much stronger xG than Everton and stopped their hosts from having a single big opportunity.

Remarkably, the Forest defence also managed 41 clearances in the match, showing how well they adapted to Everton’s switch to an extremely direct style of play in the second half.

Clearly, then, it seemed that Forest were on top regardless of whether Tarkowski should’ve been sent off or not, with Espirito Santo and his Forest coaching staff enjoying a relatively relaxed final match of 2024.