Jack Grealish and Michael Keane were both sent off in a bizarre 1-1 draw at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but Everton held on to a point against bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
Keane gave Everton an early lead with his instinctive striker-like finishing, but was the first to receive a red flag after he was adjudged to have pulled Tolu Akodare’s hair in an aerial duel. Everton captain James Tarkowski criticized the decision, calling it “bizarre”.
Jack Grealish, shaken by the harsh send-off on his team-mate, sarcastically clapped while taking an early shower. Referee Thomas Kirk was not amused by the Man City loanee’s reaction to being awarded a free-kick just three minutes after receiving his first yellow.
Everton got off to a good start and fully deserved their early lead. But after the break, Matheus Mane continued his bright start with Wolves’ first team, following up his first goal for the club at the weekend with a confident second-half equaliser.
The 18-year-old’s second Premier League goal secured Wolves another point. Wolves have continued their good run with five points from their last three games, but have picked up zero points from their last 11 games.
For Everton, they lost their place in the top half of the league, but they could say they were lucky after surviving a late onslaught with just nine men.
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Jack Grealish given second yellow card against Wolves
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Everton goalscorer Michael Keane sent off for pulling Wolves forward Tolu Alokodare’s hair
Tarkowski calls Kean’s red card ‘strange’
Everton captain James Tarkowski:
“The second half was weird. You don’t often spend the last few minutes with nine guys. And at the end, I’ve never seen anything like it. I just thought it was a strange decision.”
“I just looked back at it. First of all, I understand the rules. If someone intentionally pulls someone’s hair, you know it.
“There are several elements to it. First of all, Michael Keene is the gentlest character I’ve ever met. He’s the gentlest person I know, so he never meant any harm to anyone.”
“He went to get the ball. The hair is where you get your hands on your back. That’s how you protect it. Otherwise you’re just going to end up banging your head in the back of someone’s head. I’m not going to pull your hair.”
“Maybe an experienced referee at this level knows Michael, knows what kind of player he is and understands that he’s not the kind of player who would do something like that.
“I think this referee is only playing his second game in the Premier League so obviously he doesn’t know the players very well yet. Some players may go out on purpose and do that, but Michael is definitely not that type of person.”
“I spoke to him after the game and he said he wasn’t looking for a red card. He just felt his hair being pulled and called for a foul, so even he didn’t think it was an act of violence. And now, if that decision stands, it’s a three-game suspension for nothing at all.”
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Everton manager David Moyes was left frustrated after Michael Keane was given a red card for pulling Wolves forward Tolu Alokodea’s hair.
Moyes: ‘It was a stupid decision to send Kean off’
Everton manager David Moyes:
“It wasn’t intentional. They shouldn’t have given him a red card. It was a really poor decision to send him on the screen in the first place. (Marc) Cucurella gets his hair pulled. It’s an act of violence. Someone pulled him. It’s an act of violence. It was an intentional act, there’s no problem with it. This happened during the game.”
“About the ball coming. Unless you’ve played the game, you might not understand it. Some people might not understand it because they don’t play the game.”
“I was a centre-half. There’s no way I could think of jumping over a big centre-forward and pulling my hair out. I don’t know anyone on earth who’s good enough to think that.”
“If everyone grows their hair long, there’s always a chance that they’ll accidentally get their hair pulled. If you want your hair to grow long, there’s a good chance that you’ll get your hair pulled. It was a stupid decision. A little more with VAR. The ridiculous part came from VAR.”
Osman: Keen Red is a ‘unique incident’
Co-commentary from Sky Sports’ Leon Osman:
“This is a unique incident and I don’t think we’ve seen it before.
“When you get a red card for hair-pulling, it’s usually something out of line or malicious.
“It was a challenge. They were both challenging in the air. Their arms were flapping. Sure, it was a handful of hair, but it could very well have been a handful of jerseys.
“Maybe I’ll change my mind again in a week, but it seemed like a strange occurrence to me.”
Manet: I’m not afraid of anyone – I deserve to be here.
Wolves goalscorer Matheus Mane on Sky Sports:
“It felt great (to play in that game). I think we deserved the three points, but the players worked hard and we have to work hard too.”
“They had two red cards so we thought, ‘Let’s attack and put the ball in the box’ and that’s what we did. We were unlucky not to score.”
“The coach told us (at half-time) to keep going. He said the goal was close and it came. He said work, run, defend, attack. And we did that and got the goal we deserved.”
“I was very happy because there was space between two defenders and I took a touch and put it in the bottom corner of the goal. I’ve had this mentality since I was young. I’m young now, but I’m not scared of anyone. We just have to keep moving forward and I deserve to be here. It’s about proving and showing what I can do.”
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Matheus Mane equalizes for Wolves with a goal past Jordan Pickford and into the bottom corner.
Edwards ‘not surprised’ by Manet’s latest starring role
Wolves head coach Rob Edwards said this about Matheus Mane.
“I’m not surprised anymore. I might have been surprised a few weeks ago, because he was in very good shape when he came out.”
“But now he’s had a great performance with two goals in four games in a row and he’s influencing the game. He really deserves credit today too, because you could see he wasn’t giving his all. He had to push himself and find something. I asked him to do it at half-time.”
“A lot of credit to him for the great goal. Great run, great touch and finish. He’s stepped up and I think the players are responding around him.”
