David Moyes said he likes his players “fighting each other” after Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 13th minute for slapping his teammate Michael Keane in Everton’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday.
The victory was a first at Old Trafford in the Premier League for the visitors since 2013. After Gueye’s red card, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s 29th-minute strike proved the winner as United lost for a first time in the competition at home after an opponent was reduced to 10 men.
Gueye’s marching orders came after he approached Keane, was pushed away, and then slapped the defender on the cheek, causing the referee, Tony Harrington, to send him off for violent conduct. Gueye later apologised to his teammates.
Moyes said: “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.
“If nothing happened [no red card], I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised. I thought the referee could have taken a bit longer to think about it. I was told that [by] the rules of the game that if you slap your own player, you could be in trouble.
“I’m disappointed we got 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.”
Graeme Le Saux and David Batty: Le Saux was left with a painful reminder of this bust-up, which occurred during Blackburn's 3-0 Champions League defeat at Spartak Moscow in November 1995. Four minutes into the game, Batty made his displeasure clear when the pair collided as they tried to retrieve a Mike Newell pass. The row descended into a pushing match before Le Saux struck out, breaking his left hand during a scuffle in which his captain, Tim Sherwood, took a blow to the cheek.
Ricardo Fuller and Andy Griffin: Fuller was sent off for slapping his captain in Stoke's 2-1 defeat at West Ham in December 2008. The flashpoint came as Stoke waited to kick-off after Carlton Cole held off Griffin to equalise. Fuller, who accused Griffin of being "very rude and disrespectful", received a three-match ban. Stoke's manager, Tony Pulis, called a team meeting to address the incident.
Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer: The Newcastle duo came to blows towards the end of a 3-0 home defeat by Aston Villa in April 2005. Dyer grabbed Bowyer by the throat and they traded punches before being separated by Villa's Gareth Barry. Both men were dismissed and hauled before the media by their manager, Graeme Souness, to apologise.
Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min: The Spurs goalkeeper and forward became involved in a heated row as the half-time whistle sounded in a 1-0 Premier League victory over Everton in July 2020. Lloris angrily confronted the South Korea international over his failure to track back and the pair had to be separated by Giovani Lo Celso and Harry Winks. The spat continued down the tunnel and into the dressing room, although the two men embraced after the final whistle.
Derek Hales and Mike Flanagan: The Charlton strike partners ame to blows during an FA Cup tie against Maidstone in January 1979. The source of the spat was allegedly Flanagan reacting to Hales failing to pass to him by making a disparaging remark about his teammate's genitals. Both were sent off.
Craig Levein and Graeme Hogg: The Hearts duo became involved in a disagreement during a pre-season friendly at Raith in August 1994 after their side had almost conceded. Both men threw punches, but it was Levein's which did the damage, breaking Hogg's nose. Hogg was sent off as he was carried off on a stretcher, with Levein also dismissed. They were handed 10- and 12-match bans respectively. PA Media
Defeat ended United’s five-game unbeaten run. Ruben Amorim echoed Moyes’s sentiment. The head coach said: “Fighting is not a bad thing. Fighting doesn’t mean that they don’t like each other. Fighting is that you lose the ball [so] I will fight you because we will suffer a goal. That was how I felt when I watched. And I don’t agree with the sending off.”
United remain on 18 points, two behind Crystal Palace in fifth place, which may again be enough to seal a Champions League place.
Amorim said: “I know at which point we are at the moment. I have that feeling during this [unbeaten] run. I always talk about that – we are not there, not even near the point that we should be to fight for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”
Matheus Cunha’s head injury ruled him out of the game.
