Why was Idrissa Gueye sent off after fighting with Everton team-mate?

Everton ’s Idrissa Gueye was sent off just 13 minutes into his side’s match at Manchester United after slapping team-mate Michael Keane in an extraordinary incident that left the visitors down to 10 men at Old Trafford.

The pair squared up after Gueye's poor pass inside the box gifted a chance to United skipper Bruno Fernandes, who fired narrowly wide.

Gueye was irate and raised his left hand to slap Keane, with referee Tony Harrington immediately producing a red card, which was confirmed by VAR Paul Howard.

Gueye had to be restrained by team-mates, including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, as eventually made his way down the tunnel. The midfielder attempted to get to Keane - who continued to berate him.

It was hardly a punch, but the laws of the game state that players should be sent off for “striking an opponent or any other person on the head or face with their hand or arm, unless the force used was negligible."

On Sky Sports, Gary Neville argued the incident did not warrant a red card, adding: "They were not fighting, it wasn't a scrap. It could have been dealt with by a yellow. I don't think it needed to be a red."

But the Premier League said: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.”

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Gueye’s red card was the first time that a player had been sent off for fighting a team-mate in the Premier League since Stoke City's Ricardo Fuller slapped team-mate and captain Andy Griffin during a defeat to West Ham in December 2008.

Another infamous example of Premier League in-fighting was when Newcastle team-mate Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer brawled with each other during the s 3-0 loss to Aston Villa at St James' Park in April 2005.

Gueye’s strike of Keane hardly reached those levels, but it left Everton in a sticky situation at Old Trafford. That said, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored a spectacular opening goal to give the 10-man visitors the lead at half-time.

But Gueye’s red card was the big talking point and Everton boss David Moyes is likely to be furious at the lack of harmony in his team, as well as by how soft the dismissal appeared.

"Was [the contact] negligible?” Gary Neville said on Sky Sports. “That's the question. I think it was negligible. I don't think there was much in that at all."

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