Just 13 minutes into the Toffees’ Premier League victory over Manchester United, Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off for attacking teammate Michael Keane.
The incident began after Guye miscued a loose pass to Keane inside the penalty area, handed the ball over to him and began punching his teammate.
Gay then raised his hand in Keane’s face and was sent off for violent conduct by referee Tony Harrington.
Despite his sending off, Everton won 1–0 with a 29th-minute goal from Keiynan Dewsbury-Hall, after which Gueye apologized to his teammates in the changing room and issued a statement on social media.
“First of all, I would like to apologize to my teammate Michael. I take full responsibility for my reaction,” he said on Instagram.
“I also apologize to my team-mates, staff, fans and club. This incident is not a reflection of myself or the values I stand for. Emotions may run high, but nothing justifies such behavior. We will ensure that this never happens again.”
However, when asked about the incident, the Everton manager said: “I like it when players fight each other.”
“I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised if nothing had happened,” Moyes told Sky Sports of Guye’s sacking.
“I thought the referee could have taken a little more time to think about it. I heard that the rules of the game say that if you slap your own player, you can get into trouble.
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Everton manager David Moyes reacts to Toffees forward Idrissa Gayet being sent off after slapping teammate Michael Keane during an altercation
“But there’s another side to this. Players like to fight each other if someone doesn’t do the right thing. If you want to get results with that toughness and resilience, you want someone to act on it.”
“It’s unfortunate that he got sent off. But we were all football players and I’m angry with my teammates. He apologized for the sending off, praised the players, thanked them and apologized for what happened.”
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim also disagreed with the red card and criticized his players for not showing enough fight.
He said: “Fighting is not bad. Fighting doesn’t mean we don’t like each other. Fighting means if you lose the ball, I’ll fight you because we’re going to score a goal. That’s how I felt when I got that red card.”
“I don’t agree with that sending off. I can fight with my teammates. I know it’s an act of violence, but that’s what the referee explained, but I don’t agree with that. I hope that when the players lose the ball they fight with each other. I hope they don’t get sent off, but it’s not a bad feeling, it’s a good feeling.”
“The players showed us in many games that we can do it. We couldn’t do it today. I need to help them. We need to be better in the future.”
“Moment of madness”
Everton winner Dewsbury Hall called Gay’s red card a “moment of madness”.
He told Sky Sports: “We started very well, the situation happened, it was a crazy moment, but it was not avoidable.
“But what I can say is that Idrissa has apologized to us full-time and made his statement, and that’s all he can do. We’ll move on from there.”
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A look back at the times Premier League footballers got into fights with teammates on the pitch
“The response from us was incredible. Top tier. We could have collapsed, but if anything, it made us grow.”
“He (Moyes) said at half-time: It’s over. We’ll deal with that another time. It was about sticking to the plan we had. He made sure we did the right thing and kept doing what we were doing. We can’t change that now. We continued to do that in the second half.”
Nev and Carla question Guye’s decision to leave
However, the ferocity of the “slap” was questioned by Sky Sports’ Gary Neville in co-commentary.
“How much poison was in that slap?” said Neville. “He got sent off for that. Was it a little slap or a proper punch?”
“There was definitely a hand in the face, but it didn’t look that big. They may have had to send him off just because it was a blow to the face.”
“They weren’t fighting, it wasn’t a scrap. They could have handled it with a yellow. I don’t think they needed to go with a red.”
Jamie Carragher said at half-time in the Monday Night Football studio: “I’m just wondering, could the referees manage the situation a little better?”
“Can you just get these two people together and say, ‘Can you please behave?'” It’s less like a rulebook and more like managing the situation.
“The rulebook gives the referee a little bit of an out. The referee can say, ‘I don’t think it’s too much,’ and then it can go on 11-on-11.”
Portugal national team coach Roberto Martinez, a guest on Monday Night Football, also agreed with the red card decision.
The former Everton manager said: “Obviously it’s a misunderstanding. Gay is trying to hit (Keane) with the ball and that’s the reaction, the slap.
“The referee has no other choice as an attack from above the neck is a red card by law.”
According to Premier League rules, hitting an opponent or other person in the head or face with your hand or arm constitutes an act of violence, unless the force used is negligible.
“Was that negligible?” Neville mused. “That’s the thing. I think it was insignificant. I don’t think it was a big deal at all.”
Gayet will be suspended for Everton’s next three games.
The Senegal international became the first Premier League player to be sent off for punching his team-mate since Stoke City’s Ricardo Fuller against West Ham in 2008.
It is only the third time a player has been sent off for punching a team-mate, the first being Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer’s infamous double red card in 2005.
However, despite Gueye’s sending off, Everton won a hard-fought 1-0, their first win at Old Trafford since 2013.
Match winner Keenan Dewsbury-Hall confirmed after the game that Gay had apologized to his teammates for what Dewsbury-Hall described as a “moment of madness”.
In photos: Guye’s crazy moment!
Idrissa Guyet sent off for punching teammate Michael Keane
Gueye was held by Iliman Ndiaye and Jordan Pickford.
Pickford had to pull Guay away.
Nguye was removed from the situation by Ndiai.
Guai was pushed into the tunnel by Ndiai.
What happened to the Bowyer-Dyer and Fuller cases?
When Bowyer and Dyer collided in 2005, Bowyer was suspended for a total of seven games. As it was his second red card of the season, he was suspended for an additional three games by the FA after the first four games.
Bowyer was also fined £30,000 and the midfielder was set to move to West Ham the following summer.
Meanwhile, in 2008, Stoke striker Fuller was sent off for punching captain Andy Fuller. The striker claimed that the situation actually helped boost team morale. Fuller remained at Stoke until 2012.
“It’s one of those things. It’s over and we’ve dusted ourselves off and it made us stronger as a unit,” Fuller said.
“Sometimes in life, negative things can bring positive things, and I’m glad that I was able to overcome them in a positive way.”
