Everton’s Idrissa Gueye was sent off just 13 minutes into a match at Manchester United after slapping his teammate Michael Keane in an extraordinary incident that left the visitors down to 10 men at Old Trafford.
Everton went on to claim a stunning victory after playing for more than 80 minutes with 10 men as David Moyes and his players held on to the advantage secured by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first-half strike.
But the big talking point came early in the game as Gueye became the first Premier League player to be sent off for fighting a teammate since 2008.
The pair squared up after Gueye’s loose pass gifted a chance to United captain Bruno Fernandes, who fired wide. Gueye was irate and raised his left hand to slap Keane, with referee Tony Harrington immediately producing a red card, which was confirmed by VAR Paul Howard.
Gueye had to be restrained by teammates Jordan Pickford and Iliman Ndiaye as he eventually made his way down the tunnel. The 36-year-old midfielder attempted to get to Keane – who continued to berate him.
It was hardly a punch, but the laws of the game state that players should be sent off for “striking an opponent or any other person on the head or face with their hand or arm, unless the force used was negligible.”
On Sky Sports, Gary Neville argued the incident did not warrant a red card, adding: “They were not fighting, it wasn’t a scrap. It could have been dealt with by a yellow. I don’t think it needed to be a red.”
Jamie Carragher agreed that referee Harrington acted too quickly. “I just think: can a referee manage the situation a bit better?” he said. “Can you get the two of them together and say, ‘Hey can you behave yourselves?’”
But the Premier League said: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.”
Gueye’s red card was the first time that a player had been sent off for fighting a teammate in the Premier League since Stoke City’s Ricardo Fuller slapped teammate and captain Andy Griffin during a defeat to West Ham in December 2008.
Another infamous example of Premier League in-fighting was when Newcastle team-mate Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer brawled with each other during the 3-0 loss to Aston Villa at St James’ Park in April 2005.
Gueye’s strike on Keane hardly reached those levels, but it left The Toffees in a sticky situation at Old Trafford. That said, Dewsbury-Hall scored a spectacular opening goal to give the 10-man visitors the lead at half-time, an advantage they held on to as they produced a resilient performance of togetherness that defied Gueye’s earlier action.
It left Everton boss Moyes delighted, who claimed his first ever win at Old Trafford as an away manager, praising the spirit of his players and claiming: “I like my players fighting each other.”
Moyes said that Gueye had apologised to Keane and his teammates and the Everton manager also felt that the referee had acted too quickly. “If nothing happened, I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised,” he said.
“I thought the referee could have taken a bit longer to think about it. I got told that the rules of the game [are] that if you slap your own player, you could be in trouble.
“But there’s another side to it: I like my players fighting each other, if someone didn’t do the right action. If you want that toughness and resilience to get a result, you want someone to act on it.
“I’m disappointed we get the sending off. But we’ve all been footballers, we get angry with our teammates. He’s apologised for the sending off, he’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised for what happened.”
Match-winner Dewsbury-Hall said Gueye’s red card brought those on the pitch closer together as they fought to see out the win. Goalkeeper Pickford made some key saves, while there were also a number of blocks from the Everton defence that stopped United from finding an equaliser.
“Rollercoaster game. I’ll sleep well tonight, put it that way,” Dewsbury-Hall said. “So genuinely happy for the lads and how hard they worked. A fantastic performance of gritting away, getting a goal and keeping that spirit. So glad we got the three points.
“We started really well – the situation happened. It was a moment of madness, avoidable. But all I can say is Idrissa has apologised to us at full-time, said his piece and that’s all he can do. We move on from it.
“The reaction from us, was unbelievable. Top tier. We could have crumbled but if anything, it made us grow.”
As Gueye was sent off for violent conduct, he will serve a three-match ban. However, the Senegal international will go to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at the start of December, so he may not play for Everton again for a couple of months.
Gueye later apologised for the incident in a social media post. “I want to apologise first to my teammate Michael Keane. I take full responsibility for my reaction,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I also apologise to my teammates, the staff, the fans and the club. What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for. Emotions can run high, but nothing justifies such behaviour.
“I’ll make sure it never happens again.”
