Moyes’ stunning reaction to Idrissa Gueye red card: I LIKE my players fighting each other!

Robin Bairner

24 Nov 2025 22:49 GMT
4 min read

David Moyes reacts to Idrissa Gueye's red card against Manchester United — © IMAGO

Everton’s Idrissa Gueye was the recipient of one of the strangest red cards in Premier League history against Manchester United when he was sent-off for clashing with team-mate Michael Keane, yet manager David Moyes has moved to play down the incident.

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Speaking after his side’s stunning 1-0 victory at Old Trafford, which came courtesy of a goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall when the Toffees midfielder had already seen red, Moyes even claimed that he liked the fire shown from Gueye.

The incident happened only 13 minutes into the Premier League clash, but despite the setback did not hamper the Merseysiders as they claimed a stunning victory.

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Idrissa Gueye

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Reacting after the match to Sky Sports, Moyes said: “Those things happen in football, you just have to cope with them.

“We don’t see that very often. I think if nothing had happened, I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been very surprised. I thought the referee could maybe have taken a bit longer to think about it.

“I was told that even if you slap your own player or you lift an arm in some way, you can be in trouble.

“But there’s another side of it; I quite like my players fighting each other, getting annoyed with each other because of a bad ball or someone didn’t do the right action. I think it’s part of it. If you want that resilience and the toughness that got us that result, then I think you have to have players who are going to act that way.

“I’m disappointed we got the sending off, but everyone will tell you that you’ll get angry with your team-mates.”

© IMAGO - Everton's Idrissa Gueye was sent off for a clash with team-mate Michael Keane

Moyes reveals Idrissa Gueye’s reaction in the locker room

Moyes said that Gueye, the guilty party, had already cleared the air behind the scenes and admitted his error to his Everton team-mates.

“He’s apologised in the dressing room for the sending off and he’s praised the players incredibly for their performance tonight. He’s thanked them for it,” Moyes said.

Gueye faces a three-match ban for his actions, ruling him out of Everton’s next Premier League clash against Newcastle United on Saturday.

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