‘Incredible’ – Keith Wyness flabbergasted by how officials responded to Everton bust-up
Idrissa Gueye should not have been sent off during Everton’s 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
That is according to ex-Aberdeen and Everton and Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness who, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, thinks the referee should have handled the situation differently.
Gueye was sent off for hitting teammate Michael Keane in the first half, but Everton still won the contest against Man United courtesy of a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall strike.
After the match, Gueye apologised to Keane for the incident, but the midfielder will serve a three-match suspension.
Idrissa Gueye red card ‘could have ruined the game’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – did not see the violent conduct in Gueye’s actions which he was sent off for.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted the 36-year-old shouldn’t have seen red.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Yeah, look, it was a good game of Premier League football, no doubt about it. And we could see after an international break, why we all missed the Premier League so much, it was full of drama.
“I mean, right from Seamus Coleman going off in the sixth minute to the red card in the 13th minute, which was incredible.
“Just on the red card, there’s been a lot of talk about the referee should probably have given a yellow or even not any card at all, just gone across and spoken to them. I tend to be in that camp because I did not see extreme violence in any way.
“To me, it was a tap on the cheek between teammates. Everybody said, this is only the third time that players from the same team have been sent off.
“It was nothing like the famous Kieran Dyer, Lee Bowyer incident, which I think we all remember. So there was no extreme violence in my point of view.
“It was really even hard on the replays to actually see the slap. So I think the referee could have handled it differently. And I think that, you know, that really was uncalled for and could have ruined the game.”
David Moyes finds positive amid Gueye dismissal
Gueye will be missing for Everton’s next three Premier League fixtures against Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
22-year-old Tim Iroegbunam will be the most likely to start in Gueye’s place in midfield, whilst Carlos Alcaraz is also an option.
Down to 10 men, David Moyes will have been pleased by the performance of striker Thierno Barry, who was crucial in the win against Man United.
Barry set a new Premier League record this season by winning 14 aerial duels in the match, which helped relieve some of the Man United pressure.