David Moyes said Idrissa Gueye had apologised to his team-mates after the red card incident at Old Trafford
David Moyes was delighted with his side's display
David Moyes was delighted with his side's display(Image: Getty Images)
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Idrissa Gueye has apologised to his Everton team-mates for the senseless moment that saw him sent off at Old Trafford. The veteran midfielder was handed a straight red card for raising his hands to Michael Keane as the pair appeared to row over who was to blame for an early Manchester United opportunity.
It was a loss of control that threatened to derail his team’s chances of a first win at this stadium since 2013.
Instead it was Everton that appeared galvanised - the away side taking the lead through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 15 minutes later and then holding on for an extraordinary victory.
After the match, David Moyes jailed a "brilliant" team performance and played down the significance of the spat and said his central midfielder had apologised to his teammates.
He said: “He apologised to the dressing room at the end of the game, he spoke to us all, so there is no problem. We move on from it.
"We are disappointed it happened, but in some ways, people who've been players will understand what it means when you're on the pitch, you're fighting to win. And both of them were.”
The Blues boss had run down the touchline to reach the dressing room at half-time but said there was no need to quell a storm among his squad.
Asked what was said among them at the break, Moyes said: “Not one word was said. Never for a minute did we think about it. It wasn't an interest, it was done.
"I was more interested in what I thought Manchester United were going to do at half time because I was concerned what they're going to do tactically, and how were we going to cope with it, how could we alter?
“We played Sunderland away from home, we were 1-0 up and we came out in the second half and we lost the goal after about a minute. So I was determined that we didn't go out with that sort of attitude.
"The second half was much harder. They put more people in the front line and made it much more difficult.
"But I thought as they made it more difficult, we defended just as well and stuck to our task.”
On the red card itself, Moyes disputed whether it was the correct decision but went so far as to claim he took a degree of pleasure from the passion it showcased.
He said: “I didn't think there was anything in it. I was a bit annoyed that they were challenging each other at the time. I was also quite pleased, quite pleased they were fighting each other, because it showed me that they cared and it showed me that there's a bit of that and that's what's in Everton.
“We're trying to demand higher standards from everybody. So I can't quite work it out… what they were annoyed with each other with.
"But if we hadn't got that fight and that resilience like what they showed, we'd have never got through the rest of the game. Because we came up against an improving Manchester United.
"Most of the people in here were here to see Manchester United, but Everton stood up to what they had to do tonight.”