An Everton footballer was sent off after clashing with his own teammate during their Premier League match against Manchester United.
Midfielder Idrissa Gueye was shown a red card after appearing to strike defender Michael Keane in the first half of the Monday night game at Old Trafford.
The incident was sparked when Gueye – who misplaced a loose pass towards Keane in the penalty area to give the ball away – began berating his team-mate.
Replays showed Gueye lifting his hand to Keane’s face, before he was sent off for violent conduct by referee Tony Harrington.
Despite going down to 10-men, Everton won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Sky Sports commentator and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville questioned how forceful the “slap” really was during his co-commentary.
“There is no doubt a hand comes out to the face but it didn’t look too much,” he said.
“They might have had to send him off purely because there is a strike to the face.”
“They were not fighting, it wasn’t a scrap. It could have been dealt with by a yellow. I don’t think it needed to be a red.”
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said: “I just think: Can a referee manage the situation a bit better?
“Can you get the two of them together and say: ‘Hey can you behave yourselves?’ Just sort of manage the situation rather than, that’s the rulebook.”
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Under Premier League rules, hitting an opponent or any other person in the head or face with a hand or arm is considered violent conduct, unless the force used was negligible.
“Was it negligible?” asked Neville. “That’s the question. I think it was negligible. I don’t think there was much in that at all.”
After the game, Everton boss David Moyes said he believe the referee “could have taken a bit longer to think about it”.
“I like my players fighting each other, if someone didn’t do the right action,” he added.
“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 team-mates. He’s apologised for the sending off, he’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised for what happened.”
Gueye is the first Premier League player to be sent off for striking a team-mate since Ricardo Fuller’s dismissal for Stoke City against West Ham in 2008.
It is only the third time in Premier League history a player has been sent off for striking a team-mate, following the notorious 2005 double sending-off involving Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer.
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That clash in 2005 saw Bowyer receive a seven-match ban, including four games because it was his second red card of the season, and a further three added by the Football Association.
The midfielder was also fined £30,000 and joined West Ham the following summer.
