David Moyes said he likes his players “fighting each other” after Idrissa Gueye was sent off in the 13th minute for slapping teammate Michael Keane during Everton’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday.
The victory was Everton’s first at Old Trafford in the Premier League since 2013. After Gueye’s red card, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s 29th-minute strike proved the winner, as United lost for the first time at home in the competition after an opponent was reduced to 10 men.
Gueye approached Keane, was pushed away, and then slapped the defender on the cheek, prompting referee Tony Harrington to send him off for violent conduct. Gueye later apologised 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. 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.”
United manager Ruben Amorim echoed Moyes’s sentiment, saying: “Fighting is not a bad thing. Fighting doesn’t mean that they don’t like each other. Fighting is that you lose the ball [so] I will fight you because we will suffer a goal. That was how I felt when I watched. And I don’t agree with the sending off.”
Defeat ended United’s five-game unbeaten run. They remain on 18 points, two behind Crystal Palace in fifth place. Amorim added: “I know at which point we are at the moment. We are not there, not even near the point that we should be to fight for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”
