Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye Gueye etched his name into Premier League infamy on Monday night when he was dismissed for striking his own team-mate Michael Keane during the opening exchanges of their goalless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The extraordinary episode unfolded in the 10th minute, mere moments after Bruno Fernandes had unleashed a fierce drive that Jordan Pickford clawed away to safety. As the action paused, television footage revealed Gueye, visibly incensed by what he perceived as Keane’s lapse in concentration, striding towards the centre-half. A heated verbal exchange ensued before the 35-year-old Senegalese international lashed out with his left fist, landing a clean blow on Keane’s jaw – all within plain sight of referee Tony Harrington.
Harrington, positioned just a few paces away, wasted no time in producing a straight red card, deeming the act violent conduct under Law 12 of the game’s rules. Gueye’s immediate response was one of unbridled rage; he sought to confront Keane again, only for Pickford and Iliman Ndiaye to bundle him away from the fray and towards the tunnel. The Everton dressing room door eventually slammed shut behind him, condemning the visitors to 80 minutes of defiance with 10 men.
Violent conduct warrants an automatic three-match ban, irrespective of whether the recipient wears the same colours as the perpetrator. The Football Association is anticipated to ratify the suspension imminently, sidelining Gueye for December fixtures against Brentford, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Remarkably, Everton not only withstood the setback but threatened to turn it to their advantage. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s sumptuous 29th-minute curler – a deft right-footed effort from the edge of the box – arrowed into the top corner, only for Manchester United’s André Onana to claw it off the line at full stretch. The hosts, dominant in possession at 68 per cent, mustered 14 shots but found Pickford in imperious form, his sprawling save to deny Rasmus Højlund in the 58th minute the pick of a string of interventions.
The point lifts Sean Dyche’s side to 14th in the table, three clear of the drop zone, while Erik ten Hag’s charges remain mired in mid-table mediocrity on 18 points. For Gueye, a mainstay of Everton’s engine room since his 2016 arrival, the lapse represents an aberration from a career defined by grit and reliability. “It’s one of those moments that defies belief,” Dyche reflected post-match. “Gana’s passion is his strength, but tonight it cost us dearly – though credit to the lads for digging in.”
In an era of VAR scrutiny and sanitised spectacle, Gueye’s outburst stands as a throwback to football’s rawer edges: a bizarre, self-sabotaging flashpoint that will fuel pub debates and viral clips for seasons to come. Old Trafford, witness to so many theatrical twists, has rarely seen its script rewritten quite so literally by one of its own cast.
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