When David Moyes took his seat in the dugout at the start of the evening, surely the last thing the Everton manager would have expected to see was one of his players being sent for an early shower after fighting with a team-mate.
For Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer in 2005 with Newcastle United, or Ricardo Fuller and Andy Griffin at Stoke City three years later, there’s now Everton’s **Idrissa Gueye**and Michael Keane.
It almost required a double take when the two Everton players faced off after **Manchester United**’s first attack of the game. Clearly, Gueye was frustrated by Keane’s misplaced pass that lost possession and, taking umbrage, the pair exchanged shoves.
But when the Senegal international raised his hand towards Keane’s face, 'slapping' the defender around the chops, it felt as though the mind was playing tricks. Gueye was dismissed and, still livid, had to be guided towards the tunnel. Although the laws are clear, a sending off felt a little over the top.
The light it painted Everton in was rather unflattering, but it was testament to the ten men that they kept their heads, went ahead through **Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall**’s great strike and held on for the biggest victory of Moyes’s return to the club yet.
How Everton kept their concentration to last the hour and hold onto their lead despite being down a player will have been most pleasing for Moyes, who registered his first win here as a visiting manager. Jordan Pickford came to the fore when his area was the epicentre of the second-half action.
Everton had not won here since December 2013 when Roberto Martinez was in charge. Twelve attempts since had wielded eight defeats before this result, which moves them into mid-table, above Liverpool and level on points with United, who saw their five-game unbeaten run ended.
**Ruben Amorim**’s team had won all four of their recent home matches but, despite rallying in the second half, lacked enough creative nous to breach Everton’s defence and this will be a painful reality check for them.
Story of the game
Given Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha were both missing through injury, Amorim gave Joshua Zirkzee his first start of the season, with Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbuemo operating in the dual No 10 roles behind the forward.
There was a return to the match-day squad for Lisandro Martinez, who has been out since February, and also a place on the home side’s bench for 18-year-old Shea Lacey, a much-talked-about academy graduate who has even drawn comparisons with Phil Foden.
Everton had had a terrible time of it against United for the past decade — winning only one of their past 14 encounters — and Moyes would have welcomed a change in fortunes against his former club.
The visitors made a confident start and, rather than setting up deep, were comfortable playing in United’s half and posing the early questions. Iliman Ndiaye crossing to the back post had Leny Yoro heading clear.
That positive opening which put United on the back foot were dealt blows, though, starting with Seamus Coleman, who was making his first start of the league campaign, unable to continue past the 10th minute and was replaced by Jake O’Brien.
Then, however, came that remarkable act of self-inflicted harm. Mbuemo had cut inside to present Bruno Fernandes with the home team’s first shooting chance that he sent wide only for Gueye to stride over to Keane and start berating his team-mate.
After some shoving, Gueye raised his hand towards Keane’s face and referee Tony Harrington had no hesitation in waving a red card at the Everton midfielder. Gueye didn’t go quietly and had to be ushered towards the tunnel by Pickford and Ndiaye.
It was a scarcely believable turn of events, albeit one that could have probably been dealt with the referee simply defusing the situation and showing the pair a yellow card each. Still, the team that have been shown the most red cards in Premier League history are nothing but inventive.
Halt Everton it did not, however, and the ten men went ahead courtesy of Dewsbury-Hall’s fine effort from 25 yards in the 29th minute. The midfielder made it all on his own, jinking past Fernandes and taking on Yoro before getting a fortunate lie to whip the ball into the top corner.
The contingent of away supporters inside Old Trafford had one minute been embarrassed to accept what they were witnessing and then the next were lapping up what was before them.
It had felt as though United had simply been spectators to Everton’s variety performance up to that point, such had been their contribution to first-half proceedings. Amorim’s team were not flowing by any stretch of the imagination but did create a couple of chances before half time.
An attempt from Amad was beaten away, Patrick Dorgu miscued at the back post after Zirkzee had played a centre across the six-yard box and Fernandes’s drive had Pickford flying to his right with a strong hand to push away.
Amorim swapped Noussair Mazraoui with Mason Mount at the break and positioned his substitute centrally, with Amad moving to the right wing-back position. United simply had to pose more of a consistent threat against a weakened side that had begun edging deeper and deeper.
Everton’s area became under siege and Mbuemo led the fight. He sent Pickford low with one effort and, just before that, was thwarted by Keane’s perfectly-timed intervention. Fernandes scooped over with the outside of his right boot from six yards out.
But the best chance fell to Zirkzee, who guided a header from **Luke Shaw**’s delivery towards the bottom corner but Pickford was equal to it with an outstanding save. A hand to push Everton and Moyes towards their biggest win since coming together again.