Richarlison, Pickford apologise to Liverpool duo after heavy tackles

Everton's Richarlison after sustaining an injury making a challenge on Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara resulting in Richarlison being sent off [Pool via REUTERS/Peter Byrne]

Everton forward Richarlison has issued an apology to Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara for his dangerous challenge on the midfielder towards the end of Saturday’s 2-2 draw in the Premier League.

Thiago eventually got up from Richarlison’s red-card tackle and created the opening for a late disallowed goal by Jordan Henderson but later reported an injury.

"Everyone who knows my background knows that I was never a violent player," Richarlison said in a statement , blaming his heavy lunge on "sheer over-dedication".

 “I did not enter that dispute with the intention of hurting Thiago... I already sent a message to him apologising and I also do it here publicly. I hope he hasn’t been hurt and that everything is fine.”

Liverpool’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk was taken off with an injury early in the game following a wild tackle from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk collides with Everton's Jordan Pickford resulting in an injury to van Dijk and him being substituted [Pool via REUTERS/Laurence Griffiths]

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said Van Dijk was “not good” and described Pickford’s actions as “not a challenge the keeper can do.”

Henderson said the England goalkeeper, who went unpunished after the incident, was sorry for his actions.

“Everyone keeps asking us about it so I’m guessing it’s a red card. It mustn’t be a good challenge,” Henderson told BT Sport. “To be fair, Jordan came up and apologised to me after the game and (told me) to tell Virgil.”