Idrissa Gueye received a round of applause from the Everton squad after apologising for his extraordinary red card in Monday’s victory at Manchester United.
The midfielder became the first Premier League player to be dismissed for striking a team-mate in 17 years when slapping Michael Keane at Old Trafford. Everton performed heroically with 10 men for 85 minutes, stoppage time included, to hand David Moyes his first win at Old Trafford as a visiting manager in 18 attempts and deliver only the club’s second victory at United in 33 years.
Gueye did not get an opportunity to speak to Moyes or his team-mates at half-time. Afterwards, with the away dressingroom on a high following the 1-0 win, the Senegal international asked to address the entire group as well as Keane specifically. Gueye apologised to the defender for slapping him across the face.
Their heated 13th-minute altercation followed the midfielder’s misplaced pass inside his own penalty area, which presented a chance to Bruno Fernandes. He also apologised to the squad for leaving them with a monumental task at Old Trafford and thanked them for pulling it off. Gueye’s words were warmly received by the squad, who gave him a round of applause.
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The 36-year-old could still be disciplined by Everton despite Moyes’s admission that he “likes my players fighting each other”. The Scot has a standard disciplinary procedure for red and yellow cards, including fines, and that is likely to be applied in Gueye’s case.
Everton could be without their influential midfielder until the new year. Gueye will serve a three-match suspension against Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest but could be called up for Africa Cup of Nations duty by Senegal before he becomes eligible to play against Chelsea on December 13th. Senegal’s first game is on December 23rd and players can be released by their clubs two weeks before a tournament begins. Everton have not received a release date from Senegal as yet, however.
Gueye also issued an apology on social media following Everton’s hugely impressive victory. “I want to apologise first to Michael Keane,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility for my reaction. I also apologise to my teammates, the staff, the fans and the club. What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for. Emotions can run high, but nothing justifies such behaviour. I’ll make sure it never happens again.”
Gueye’s marching orders came after he approached Keane, was pushed away, and then slapped the defender on the cheek, causing the referee, Tony Harrington, to send him off for violent conduct.
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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 team-mates. He’s apologised for the sending off, he’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised.”
