What David Moyes said about bizarre Everton red card vs Man United – ‘I like my players fighting’

Idrissa Gueye was sent off against Manchester United after a spat with teammate Michael Keane.

David Moyes said he likes to see his players fighting after Idrissa Gueye was shown a red card for slapping Michael Keane against Manchester United. Everton were reduced to 10 men in the first half at Old Trafford after a disagreement between Gueye and Keane saw the former raise his hand to his teammate’s face.

Gueye was sent off but 10-man Everton continued to play on the front foot and they took a deserved lead through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall just before the half hour mark. United pushed for an equaliser but they were unable to find a breakthrough, with Jordan Pickford producing an excellent late save to deny Joshua Zirkzee.

After watching his team hold on for the three points, Moyes reflected on the result and had his say on the incident that saw his team reduced to 10 men.

“If nothing happened, 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,” Moyes told Sky Sports. “I got told that the rules of the game that if you slap your own player, you could be in trouble. But there’s another side to it: 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. “I’m disappointed we get 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 for what happened.”

Defeat for United leaves them 10th in the table as they missed out on the opportunity to move into the Champions League qualification places. Next up for Ruben Amorim’s side is a trip to Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace on Sunday.