Moyes on the Keane-Gueye spat that saw the latter get sent off in Everton’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Following Idrissa Gueye’s dismissal in the thirteenth minute for slapping teammate Michael Keane during Everton’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday, David Moyes stated that he enjoys his players “fighting each other.”
For the visitors, it was their first Premier League win at Old Trafford since 2013. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s goal in the 29th minute following Gueye’s red card proved to be the game-winning goal, and United lost at home for the first time in the competition when an opponent was reduced to ten men.
The referee, Tony Harrington, sent Gueye out for violent behaviour when he approached Keane, was shoved away, and then slapped the defender on the face. Afterwards, Gueye expressed regret 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.”