Toffees Triumph Amidst Unprecedented On-Field Clash
In a Premier League match that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye was shown a straight red card during the first half of the Monday night fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The extraordinary dismissal came after Gueye appeared to strike his own teammate, defender Michael Keane, in a moment of sheer frustration.
The Incident That Shocked Old Trafford
The confrontation was sparked when Gueye misplaced a loose pass towards Keane in the penalty area, immediately giving possession away to the opposition. Replays clearly showed the furious midfielder then turning on his defensive colleague, lifting his hand to Keane's face in an aggressive motion. Referee Tony Harrington had little choice but to brandish the red card for violent conduct, leaving the Toffees to play the remainder of the match with only ten men.
Sky Sports commentator and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville immediately questioned the severity of the incident during his co-commentary. "There is no doubt a hand comes out to the face but it didn't look too much," Neville observed. "They might have had to send him off purely because there is a strike to the face. It could have been dealt with by a yellow. I don't think it needed to be a red."
Controversy and Historical Context
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher suggested the referee could have managed the situation differently. "Can you get the two of them together and say: 'Hey can you behave yourselves?' Just sort of manage the situation rather than, that's the rulebook," Carragher remarked.
Under Premier League rules, striking any person in the head or face with a hand or arm is automatically considered violent conduct unless the force used was negligible. This incident marks only the third time in Premier League history a player has been sent off for striking a teammate, with the most recent occurrence being Ricardo Fuller's dismissal for Stoke City against West Ham in 2008.
The most notorious previous incident occurred in 2005 when Newcastle United teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were both sent off for fighting each other during a match, resulting in Bowyer receiving a seven-match ban and a £30,000 fine.
Unexpected Victory Against the Odds
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Everton emerged victorious with a 1-0 win thanks to a decisive goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The remarkable result demonstrated incredible resilience from the ten-man Toffees side.
After the final whistle, Everton manager David Moyes offered his surprising perspective on the incident. "I like my players fighting each other, if someone didn't do the right action," Moyes stated. "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 team-mates."
The manager confirmed that Gueye had apologised to his teammates for the sending off and praised the squad for their determined response that secured three valuable points under challenging circumstances.
