After the confrontation, Toffees boss David Moyes was quick to back both his players, saying the display of passion and aggression is what he asks of his players and suggested the referee could have avoided using the red card.
Moyes said: “I like my players fighting each other, if someone didn’t do the right action. If you want that toughness and resilience to get a result, you want someone to act on it. If nothing happened (no red card), I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised. I thought the referee could have taken a bit longer to think about it. I was told that (by) the rules of the game that if you slap your own player, you could be in trouble. I’m disappointed we got the sending off. But we’ve all been footballers, we get angry with our teammates. He’s apologised for the sending off, he’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised.”
And after allowing a couple of days for the dust to settle, Gueye said: “I want to apologise first to Michael Keane. I take full responsibility for my reaction. I also apologise to my team-mates, the staff, the fans and the club. What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for. Emotions can run high, but nothing justifies such behaviour. I’ll make sure it never happens again.”