Everton star is sent off against Man United after SLAPPING his own team-mate in moment of madness – but Gary Neville insists midfielder should not have seen red despite ‘unsavoury’ clash
Idrissa Gueye lost his head in front of more than 70,000 people as he was sent off against Manchester United for slapping his own teammate.
The Everton midfielder carelessly gave the ball away in the penalty area and Bruno Fernandes almost took the penalty when his shot sailed just past the post.
As United players began running back to defend the goal kick, Gueye was confronted by teammate Michael Keane after the defender berated Gueye for careless play.
The two confronted each other and Keane appeared to move his head towards Gueye, before raising his hand and slapping Keane across the face, which led to a straight red card from referee Tony Harrington.
This brought back memories of 20 years ago when Kieran Dyer and Lee Bowyer met and fought on the pitch between Newcastle United and Aston Villa.
Blackburn Rovers team-mates Graeme Le Saux and David Batty got into a fight with each other on the pitch during a Champions League match against Spartak Moscow in 1995.
In bizarre incident, Idrissa Gueye slapped teammate Michael Keane in the face
Everton star had to be stopped by Jordan Pickford as he scored a second try against Keane
David Moyes had no complaints about a red for Gueye, his first sending-off of the season, as he had to be physically restrained by Jordan Pickford and Iliman Ndiaye as he tried to fire a second shot at Keane before eventually heading down the tunnel.
TV cameras initially missed the incident, with Sky Sports cutting the replay as the incident continued.
All of the footage shows Gueye and Keane in a heated fight; The fight becomes more intense as the defender moves his head towards his teammate. Gueye then slaps Keane.
Speaking on the comment, Gary Neville claimed the dismissal was lenient. ‘There’s not much to it; “This is a tap,” he said.
‘It wasn’t nice to see two teammates attacking each other but it wasn’t a scrap. ‘There didn’t need to be a red card.’
Premier League Match Center said on X: ‘The referee’s red card call on Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR; This move was considered a clear shot to Keane’s face.’
Everton were not affected by the red card as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall found the top corner with a superb effort at the half hour mark.
