In one of the more bizarre games we've ever seen, Everton walked away from Old Trafford with a 1-0 win last night, despite playing with just 10 men for over 70 minutes of the contest.
The incident that led to the sending off of Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye has been a topic of much conversation since halftime of the match, and it came to an even greater head afterwards, with plenty of pundits weighing in.
Two of the more informed opinions came from the opposing managers, David Moyes for the Toffees and Ruben Amorim for Manchester United.
In Moyes case, he noted that he was "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," adding that he didn't think "anything in it."
The Scot also said that the team didn't discuss the incident at halftime, choosing to focus on what tactical changes they expected from Amorim and his side. Moyes and Everton knew fully well that they were in for an offensive barrage from United in the second half, and they looked prepared to handle that out of the break.
On the Gana front, Moyes is absolutely correct in his assertion.
It was good to see the players angry about a bad outcome, even if this situation spilled over and flirted with the edges of what was reasonable, even in the heat of the moment.
But it also felt like the referee stuck to the letter of the law without taking the situation into account, which is what Moyes seems to be getting at when he says there wasn't anything in it. To my eye, the replay of the incident still doesn't look terribly conclusive, but that's based solely on the broadcast feed.
Teammates fighting each other isn't great, but like Moyes said, it was good to see the passion, and it feels like the referee and VAR could have shown more understanding of the circumstance.
What's more, the United manager agrees with Moyes, saying after the match that "fighting is not a bad thing, doesn’t mean they don’t like each other. I don’t agree with that sending off, we can fight with teammates."
Maybe the situation, which is rare in football, suggests a revisiting of the rules of the game, allowing the referee more leeway to assess the situation. Maybe it requires a better understanding of what "violent conduct" looks like.
Either way, Gana has apologized for his actions, and Everton have all three points at Old Trafford for the first time in a long time.