Everton Midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off for striking fellow team mate Michael Keane during Everton’s 1-0 win against Manchester United last night.
In just the thirteenth minute of the game, Bruno Fernandes was gifted a chance by Gueye, which he narrowly missed. And just as Everton were about to reset for the goal kick, an argument broke out between Keane and Gueye. The English defender pushed Gueye twice before the Senegalese slapped him.
This gave Referee Toby Harrington no choice but to show Gueye a red card. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to separate the pair as he escorted the midfielder to the tunnel.
Quite remarkably, Everton would go on to take the lead just 16 minutes later, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall stunning a lacklustre United early on. From then, The Toffees managed to hold out to secure a famous victory at Old Trafford. A victory which was rather unfortunately overshadowed by such a unique red card.
Post match, Everton Manager David Moyes said: “I was actually quite pleased, it showed me that they care and have high standards”.
“if you want a winning team and that resilience and toughness that got us the result, you have to have players who are going to act that way” he said.
You can watch his full answer below.
Gueye has since posted an apology to social media. “I want to apologise first to my Teammate Michael Keane, I take full responsibility for my reaction. What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for” He said: ” Emotions can run high but nothing justifies such behaviour. I’ll make sure it never happens again”.
Whilst the situation seems to be being downplayed by Moyes, but it caused mixed opinions on social media. On Monday Night Football,Jamie Carragher claimed it wasn’t enough to be deemed “violent conduct’ and shouldn’t have been a red at all. Unlike former Blues Manager Roberto Martinez who said Gueye gave the referee “no other choice” than to send the midfielder off.
It took many people back to the Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer scuffle that saw both team mates sent off for Newcastle back in 2005, although maybe not quite as malicious as that one, it is one of only a few times there has been conflict between team mates on the pitch.
What do you think? Was it right to send Gueye off? Or is it just a case of a team caring about winning?