If Everton will respond to going down a man early in the game by winning every time, then manager David Moyes might be encouraging his players to get into scraps with each other more often.
Last night Everton
beat Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time in twelve years, coincidentally while Moyes was still in charge of the Red Devils. However, as dramatic as that was, the biggest talking point in the game came much, much earlier when with a dozen minutes gone, a misplaced pass from Idrissa Gueye was pounced upon by Bruno Fernandes who shot just wide. The midfielder turned to Michael Keane and a spat ensued as to who was responsible for the error.
The two players pushed and shoved each other, with Gana slapping Keane and the defender pushing away the Senegal international before their Everton teammates intervened. However, referee Tony Harrington chose to take matters in his own hands and sent Gueye off for violent conduct before the Toffees could work things out. That sparked another round of ire from Gana who had to be escorted off by Jordan Pickford and his compatriot Iliman Ndiaye.
After a bright start, it looked like Everton would fade away a man short, but instead they maintained the tempo and fully deserved their goal just before the half hour mark with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall firing home a shot that Senne Lammens could not keep out.
The Toffees didn’t exactly turtle after that, but did defend deep and successfully frustrated their hosts for the remainder of the game while not managing another shot of their own after that.
Speaking after the game, Moyes was asked if Gana should have been sent off for the altercation between teammates.
“We don’t see it very often. If nothing had happened afterwards, I don’t think anybody in the stadium would’ve been surprised. I thought the referee could’ve maybe taken a bit longer to think about it. I’ve been told that if you slap your own player or if you leave an arm in then you could be in some form of trouble, but there is another side to it.
“I couldn’t understand it. I don’t think anyone could have expected it. Anthony Taylor told me by the letter of the law if you raise your arm you can be sent off.
“I don’t think anyone else in the stadium would have thought anything of it.”
The Scotsman said that he liked his players being passionate and didn’t mind the fighting either.
“I quite like my players fighting each other and getting annoyed with each other, because it shows they care and [put the] demands on players.
“If you want a winning team, with the resilience and toughness that got us the result, then I think you’ve got to have players that are going to react in that way. I’m disappointed we got the sending off but every player will tell you how angry they get with their team-mates.”
Moyes added that Gueye had already apologised to his teammates, who applauded when the player stood in front of the group in the dressing room to take accountability for his actions.
“He has apologised in the dressing room for the sending off, praised the players endlessly for their performance tonight and thanked them for it.”
This was Moyes’ first ever win in eighteen attempts as a visiting manager at Old Trafford, and he was quite pleased with the result given how he was sacked by the Red Devils.
“I’m incredibly proud of the players and the supporters here today because I know it has been a regular occurrence where we’ve not got a result here. We have come close loads of times and not quite been able to get over the line, but tonight we incredibly got over it with 10 men. I think it was probably the hardest way to get a good result here.
“At full-time, I felt for all the supporters who had made the journey because we obviously had to just sit in and defend for large parts of the game. I thought we started the game brilliantly well, looked quite comfortable, but the sending off meant the game changed. The resilience and toughness behind the scenes at Everton is really good and the players showed that tonight.
“It was never going to be an easy game for us with 11 players, but to do it with 10 players was an incredible job by the players. It was all about good goalkeeping and defensive resilience. It is very hard to fault my players for how they played.”
Dewsbury-Hall had been in a lacklustre spell for a few weeks, but shone in both recent wins over Fulham and now United.
“He has been playing really well. His goal is exactly what we want from him. He has been a bit unlucky maybe to not hit a couple more this season. He has been a big help to us as a team and has helped us improve. I’m really pleased for him because he works really hard and is a solid professional.
“For the team to go and win from 0-0 at that time was an amazing result considering the big improvement Manchester United have made.
“It was a brilliant goal. Great finish.”
Keane did not seem fazed by the spat and was once again the best defender on the pitch.
“Michael has stepped up and we need him. He’s experienced and knows how to play. He played really well tonight.”
Also coming in for praise was goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who made a couple of incredible saves to preserve the clean sheet on the road.
“That’s what Jordan is. He’s as good a goalkeeper as anybody. His saves are incredible. We were going to need him with 11 men never mind 10.”
Everton moved up to 18 points, which placed them level with United and Liverpool, only behind the former on goals scored but also ahead of crosstown rivals the Reds on goal difference. What did Moyes feel about the Blues leapfrogging Liverpool this far into the season for the first time since 2015?
“I hadn’t thought of that for one moment. It’s not something we’ve done very often.”
Club captain Seamus Coleman had to leave the game after just ten minutes after his first start for the Blues this season.
“I was surprised he picked something up because he has played a few minutes recently. He just felt a nick in his hamstring, which was a bit of a disruption to us. These things happen in football and you have to cope with them.”
Next up for the Toffees is a home tilt on Saturday against Newcastle United, who beat Manchester City at home this weekend.
