Idrissa Gana Gueye has apologised after he slapped team-mate Michael Keane on the pitch.
Everton manager David Moyes refused to condemn Idrissa Gana Gueye after he slapped team-mate Michael Keane on the pitch before they beat Manchester United 1-0.
Gueye has apologised for his actions after squaring up to Keane in the 13th minute, slapping the defender as they argued over a misplaced pass which gave Bruno Fernandes a shooting chance he could not convert.
That left Everton under the cosh but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s fine 29th-minute goal gave them a lead.
“When I saw it I didn’t think there was anything in it,” Moyes said. “I was a bit annoyed they were challenging each other but I was also quite pleased they were fighting each other because it shows me they cared.
“At Everton we’re trying to demand higher standards.
"I can’t quite work out if it was Keano’s bad ball or Gana’s bad ball or whatever but if we hadn’t got that fight, that resilience they showed we would never have got through the rest of the game.
“We came up against an improving Manchester United side, most people were here to watch Manchester United but Everton stood up to what we had to do.”
Moyes said Gueye, 36, had apologised to his team-mates after the game and added: “There’s no problem, we move on.”
The midfielder posted on Instagram after the match: “I want to apologise first to my team-mate Michael Keane. I want to take full responsibility for my action.
“I also apologise to my team-mates, the staff, the fans and the club. Emotions can run high but nothing justifies such behaviour.”
Former United boss Moyes had previously stood in the opposition dugout at Old Trafford 17 times without ever getting a win, making it all the more remarkable that these should be the circumstances in which that changed.
“If you’d have said to me when we went went to 10 men we were going to get a result, still at 0-0, I’d have said that would be really tough,” he said. “That was a brilliant, brilliant performance from the players.
“Resilience, toughness, commitments, all the words you want as a manager and a great goal as well.”
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