DAVID MOYES boldly claimed “I like my players fighting each other” following Idrissa Gueye’s red card for slapping team-mate Michael Keane.
The midfielder, 36, was furious after Bruno Fernandes whistled a shot narrowly off target in the 13th minute of Manchester United‘s clash with Everton.
Gueye squared up to defender Keane, with the pair going head-to-head.
The experienced ace then slapped his team-mate before being dragged away by Jordan Pickford.
Referee Tony Harrington did not hesitate in brandishing his red card.
Gueye was still furious after being sent off, grabbing Pickford by the collar too before eventually marching back down the tunnel.
Remarkably, Everton’s 10-men went on to take the lead on the half hour via Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
And Moyes’ men produced a heroic effort to hold out for a priceless three points.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the Scot was asked about the first half flashpoint between Gueye and Keane.
He said: “If nothing happened, I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised.
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“I thought the referee could have taken a bit longer to think about it.
“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 team-mates.
“He’s apologised for the sending off, he’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised for what happened.”
Pundit Gary Neville also disagreed with the red card, calling the contact “negligible”.
While Jamie Carragher suggested that the referee could have “managed” the situation without needing to send Gueye off.
The veteran midfielder released a public apology on Instagram after the match.
‘NOTHING JUSTIFIES SUCH BEHAVIOUR’
It read: “I want to apologise first to my team-mate Michael Keane.
“I take full responsibility for my reaction. I also apologise to my team-mates, the staff, the fans and the club.
“What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for.
“Emotions can run fight, but nothing justifies such behaviour.
“I’ll make sure it never happens again. UTT.”
‘A MOMENT OF MADNESS’
Match-winner Dewsbury-Hall said: of the incident: “It was just a moment of madness. It was obviously avoidable.
“All I can say is Idrissa apologised to us all at half-time and said his piece. That’s all he can do and we move on from it.
“The reaction from the lads after it was unbelievable, top tier. We could’ve easily crumbled, gone in on ourselves and lost the game comfortably, but it probably made us grow even more as a team.
“The manager just said he would deal with the situation another time and it was just about keeping to the plan that we had. He just wanted us to continue what we were doing and focus on the things we can change.”
Gueye was not the first Premier League player to be sent off for fighting a team-mate.
Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer infamously scrapped during a Newcastle clash with Aston Villa in 2005.
More recently, Ricardo Fuller saw red for slapping team-mate Andy Griffin during Stoke’s match-up with West Ham in December 2008.
Gueye is set to be suspended for upcoming matches against Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
Later next month he will then head to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
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