Everton defender James Tarkowski secured a bizarre Premier League record in the clash with Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday. He received the 64th league booking of his career in 301 appearances.
The yellow card on Saturday means that Tarkowski, who also entered the referee’s book in the recent Merseyside derby at Anfield, has the most number of yellow cards for a player who has never seen a red card in the competition.
Tarkowski was cautioned for a foul on Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly as the Toffees held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw at home.
The 32-year-old was also under the scanner in the 1-0 loss to Liverpool following his strong clearance that caught Alexis Mac Allister. Although he only saw a yellow card for that challenge, the referees’ body PGMOL conceded that he should’ve been sent off after the VAR review.
Tarkowski and his family also received death threats and social media abuse following that incident which has been condemned by the club and manager David Moyes.
With six bookings so far this season, he has overtaken former Chelsea and Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu and former Tottenham, Charlton, and Aston Villa defender Luke Young on the list of the most Premier League bookings without receiving a red card. Romeu and Young earned 63 and 62 yellow cards respectively without getting sent off even once.
Although Tarkowski has been sent off once in his career, it was while playing for Brentford in the Championship.