David Moyes' surprise Idrissa Gueye admission after Michael Keane slap in Everton win at Man Utd

View 3 Images

David Moyes has admitted he was "surprised" referee Tony Harrington gave Idrissa Gueye a red card for slapping Michael Keane during 10-man Everton's 1-0 win at Manchester United .

Gueye was shown his marching orders in the 13th minute following a skirmish with teammate Keane. The Senegal international appeared to be unhappy with centre-back Keane after a miscommunication which led to the midfielder giving the ball away inside his own half.

After words were exchanged, the pair came to blows inside box before Gueye raised his right arm and looked to then slap Keane on the side of his face. Once Gueye made contact with Keane's face, Harrington was in no hesitation but to give him a red card.

Speaking post-match, Everton manager Moyes delivered his reaction on the red card and whether he thought it was the correct call to send off Gueye.

When asked what he thought of the incident after it had been highlighted we don't see if often, Moyes told Sky Sports : "No we don't and I'm surprised.

"I think if nothing happened, I don't think anybody in the stadium would have been surprised. I thought the referee could have maybe taken a bit longer to think about it. Just gone over, sorted it and had a think about it.

View 3 Images

"I'm told the rules of the game mean that if you slap your own player or you lift an arm in some way, you could be in trouble. But you know, there's another side of it, I quite like my players fighting each other and getting annoyed with each other because of a bad ball or somebody didn't do the right action.

"I think that's part of it. If you want a winning team and the resilience and toughness which got us the result, then I think you need players who are going to act that way. I'm disappointed we got the sending off but we've all been footballers and the ones who have been will tell you quite often you'll get angry with your teammates.

"He's apologised in the dressing room for the sending off. He's praised the players incredibly for their performance tonight and thanked them for it. As I said, he's apologised for what happened."

Delivering his assessment on Gueye's red card, match-winner Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said: "It was just a moment of madness. It was obviously avoidable. All I can say is Idrissa apologised to us all at half-time and said his piece. That's all he can do and we move on from it.

View 3 Images

"The reaction from the lads after it was unbelievable, top tier. We could've easily crumbled, gone in on ourselves and lost the game comfortably, but it probably made us grow even more as a team.

"The manager just said he would deal with the situation another time and it was just about keeping to the plan that we had. He just wanted us to continue what we were doing and focus on the things we can change."

Everton went on and produced an excellent performance with 10 men to beat United 1-0, with Dewsbury-Hall scoring the all-important winner for Moyes' side just before the half hour mark. The Toffees showed great resilience and strength all over the park to hold on for a precious win.

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.