Everton on Monday survived an astonishing moment of madness at Old Trafford when Idrissa Gueye was sent off for slapping teammate Michael Keane to beat Manchester United 1-0.
Senegal midfielder Gueye was given his marching orders by referee Tony Harrington in the 13th minute after putting his hand to Keane’s face following an angry altercation.
The home crowd anticipated waves of attack, but United failed to take advantage, proving toothless against David Moyes’ battling team.
Photo: EPA
Instead, it was the 10-man visitors who seized the initiative, courtesy of a wonderful strike by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 29th minute.
Dewsbury-Hall received the ball midway inside United’s half and surged toward goal, beating Bruno Fernandes and Leny Yoro before bending the ball into the top corner.
United, missing injured forwards Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, huffed and puffed, but could not find an equalizer despite 25 shots to Everton’s three.
Goalscorer Dewsbury-Hall, addressing the red-card incident, said Gueye had apologized.
“It was just a moment of madness,” he told Sky Sports. “It was obviously avoidable. All I can say is Idrissa apologized to us all at halftime and said his piece.”
Former United boss Moyes, celebrating his first win at Old Trafford as a visiting manager at his 18th attempt, said he was “incredibly proud” of his players.
“We’ve come close a lot of times, but not quite been able to go over the line,” he said. “But tonight, incredibly, we got over the line with 10 men, which was probably the hardest way to get a good result.”
Ruben Amorim, marking the first anniversary of his maiden game in charge of United, made several changes in the second half in a frantic search for an equalizer, but his team still lacked a cutting edge despite dominating possession.
Pickford kept out a powerful Joshua Zirkzee header with just more than 10 minutes of normal time to go, and Everton hung on for their first win at Old Trafford since 2013, with United booed off.
Earlier, the visitors suffered a big blow in just the 10th minute when they lost captain Seamus Coleman.
However, worse was to follow three minutes later with the scarcely believable bust-up between Gueye and Keane.
Gueye is the first English Premier League player to be sent off for fighting with a teammate since 2008.
The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR [video assistant referee] — with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.”
A bitterly disappointed Amorim, seeking his fifth straight win at home, said his team had lacked intensity.
“You can feel right away when we start the game in the first minute, we can feel when we are at the top level in intensity and when we are not,” he said. “We cannot win games in this way.”
“I’m really frustrated with the way we played the game, especially in our home, especially understanding what happened during this week with the other clubs, looking at the table,” he added.
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