Gueye sees red after slapping Everton teammate

Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off after only 13 minutes of their Premier League win over Manchester United on Monday, punished for violent conduct after slapping teammate Michael Keane during an on-field row.

Referee Tony Harrington spotted Gueye striking Keane in the face while the pair argued following a loose pass inside Everton’s own penalty area at Old Trafford. The mistake had given Bruno Fernandes a sight of goal and sparked a furious exchange between the two Everton players.

Gueye was shown a straight red card, then had to be restrained by Jordan Pickford and Iliman Ndiaye as he continued to remonstrate with Keane.

The Premier League Match Centre 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.”

The dismissal came only moments after manager David Moyes had already been forced into a change when Seamus Coleman, making his first Premier League start of the season, went off injured after 10 minutes.

“I didn’t think there was anything in it,” Moyes said after the match. “I was a bit annoyed they were challenging eachother, but I was also a bit pleased they were fighting eachother because it showed me they cared.

“If we hadn’t got that fight or resilience they would never have got through that game. [Gueye] has apologised to the dressing room. No problem and we move on.”

The game was still goalless when Gueye walked, but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall broke the deadlock soon after, bending a precise effort into the far corner from the edge of the area to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Everton then defended with 10 players for the entire second half, limiting Manchester United’s chances and closing out a surprise victory at Old Trafford.

“I think it was just a moment of madness,” Dewsbury-Hall said of Gueye’s red card. “It was avoidable, but Idrissa has apologized to us all at full-time and said his piece. We move on from it. The reaction from the lads after that is unbelievable. We could easily have crumbled and lost the game comfortably and if anything it made us grow as a team.”

Incidents involving teammates clashing on the pitch have precedent in English football.

Stoke City’s Ricardo Fuller received a red card for slapping captain Andy Griffin during a match against West Ham on Dec. 28, 2008. In 2005, Newcastle United teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were both dismissed after fighting each other in a Premier League game against Aston Villa.

Blackburn Rovers duo David Batty and Graeme Le Saux were also involved in a notorious on-field bust-up during a Champions League match against Spartak Moscow in 1995.