David Moyes was left baffled after being booked for the way in which he was celebrating Everton’s late equaliser at Brighton.
Pascal Gross had put the hosts ahead, only for Brighton to then concede a late goal when Beto turned home rebound to snatch a point in the 97th minute.
Moyes, 63, has since criticised the laws of the game after he was booked by referee Chris Kavanagh for sprinting from his technical area and onto the pitch.
“Imagine getting booked for celebrating… fucking sad, you know what I mean?” 😡
David Moyes hit out after being booked for celebrating Everton’s late equaliser and joked he’d have done a knee slide too if he was more mobile saying he’d do it all again 🏃♂️💥 pic.twitter.com/ZgShysZhQn
— BeanymanSports (@BeanymanSports) January 31, 2026
“If I had been a bit more mobile, I might’ve done a knee slide” 😅
David Moyes was not impressed after receiving a booking for his celebrations following Beto’s equaliser against Brighton. pic.twitter.com/YvqJZe5anA
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 1, 2026
Absolutely loving Everton’s goal from the Brighton end.
From Moyes to Pyro to Pickford. pic.twitter.com/ErLytQqTBQ
— 𝐓𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐕 (@ToffeeTVEFC) February 1, 2026
Earlier this season, Enzo Maresca received a one-match touchline ban for a second yellow card when he left the technical area to celebrate with his players in their late win against Liverpool.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner also joking said he was fearful at getting a suspension for last season’s FA Cup final after he had to cut short his celebration in the 3-0 semi-final victory over Aston Villa.
“I hope you’re not going to call me ‘Pleaty’ going forward,” Moyes said after the game, per BBC Sport.
“The difference is Pleat doesn’t get booked for it, they think it’s OK and everybody enjoys seeing the celebrations.
“We’re killing it. The managers can’t come out of their technical area to celebrate a goal, knee sliding, do things which give you people [the media] quite a bit to talk about.”
On if he would do it again, Moyes replied: “I bloody will do it again!
“Actually, if I’d been a bit more mobile, I might have done a knee slide. That would only have got me a yellow as well, so I might as well have gone the whole hog.”
Moyes to Sky Sports: “You don’t get many [chances to celebrate late winners]. I’d like it to have been bigger, but they’re stopping managers celebrating. You can’t jump around and jump down the pitch.
“I hope I didn’t look as bad as David Pleat did when he did his. But why not? It’s an emotional game so it was worth the yellow card.
“It pleased me so much because we came here and played and didn’t make it easy for Brighton, who have a great record at home.
“For us to come here and nick a point in the last minute… it wasn’t a nick, I felt like it was a deserved point in the end and we’d done enough to take something from the game.
“We wanted to ask questions in the opening 25 or 30 minutes of the game, but I thought it was Brighton who were asking the questions of us in that period.
“But the league is so tight, you can dominate one half and you can be up against it in the second half. The games at the moment are really up and down at different times because of the level of the teams.
“Brighton were certainly better than us for the majority of the first half. We were better in the second half… There were small signs we were going to have a chance to get back into the game. The truth was we still need to make opportunities and create more.”
On Beto: “I’m so pleased for him because he’s such a good lad. He tries to get better every day o it gives him every opportunity and he deserves it because things haven’t been going so well for him.
“But he got his goal today, really important to us to get a point here and keep totalling up what we’ve got in the Premier League.”
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “Definitely, it’s painful but I think we started the game well. We controlled the game well.
“Second half we had more problems but we scored a goal because our subs made a good impact. Then at the end it’s painful but it’s also football and we go on.”
On game management: “I said before the game that we need to manage the key moments better. One moment cost us the game and, therefore, it is something to do with game management as well.”
On Pascal Gross’ goal: “Happy for him but, of course, we all want to win.”
On Charalampos Kostoulas’ dummy to create the goal: “We know what he is capable of doing and he proved it, so happy for him.”
On the performance: “I think we did enough to win but it’s about results as well. We have to find a way to manage the key moments better.”
On conceding late goals: “That’s football. There are two options, to be self-pitying or to take ownership, responsibility and show a great reaction. That’s what we’ll try to do, that’s our choice.”
Twitter users reacted with David Moyes baffled after being booked for celebrating Everton’s late equaliser at Brighton…
@GortzAFC: Basically said, “Utter woke nonsense.”
@WattyWattDogg: Meanwhile Arteta spends most of the game outside his area and refs do nothing. 🤷♂️
@TT202021: He’s spot on. They just want to completely sterilise the game. It’s a game of emotion and passion FFS
@TomClingo: They’re trying to completely sanitise the game across all levels of the sport. I was told by a referee recently “you can’t allow any emotion to come into the game”. That’s what the authorities are trying to get to match officials to implement now…
@Spraggs65AFC: Killing the game I want to see that from my manager, passion, desire, emotion relief That is what football supporting is all about VAR has done it to supporters Oh we’ve scored but we’ll wait 5 mins to see if he was 1mm offside or there could have been a foul anyway on the pitch
@coachhicksy: Its pathetic! one of the worst rules is a yellow card for over exuberant celebrations, shirts off, running down the line etc….It all adds to the theatre, emotions and joy of the game! They are ‘Happiness Hoovers’ sucking the life and soul out of the game! Im with David moyes 💯 on this, its fucking sad and pathetic!
@nocontextfm1: Absolutely spot on tbh, ridiculous rule
@aob7982: He’s spot on. VAR sucks the life out of football 99% of the time. So when you can actually celebrate do it
@_JC1971: Get this man in the dugout at Hampden immediately after the world cup please
@stamfordsteve64: That’s absolutely fucking brilliant from Moisey 👏🤣😂
@JStoo294: Well said, Moysey. Football’s downfall can be traced back to the moment they decided to start booking people for celebrating goals.
@alancaw: Bang on the money here David Moyes! Officiating & rules at an all time low in the game. They want it Joyless. Football with no emotion is the finishing of it & where it’s headed!
@john_nufc42: The English premiership is done and I’ve been saying this for a long long time 😡 What next? Managers can’t even celebrate in this overhyped league anymore. Heads gone
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