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Moyes vents fury at ‘ridiculous’ red card after nine-man Everton hold on to draw with Wolves

David Moyes vents fury at a ‘ridiculous’ red card after nine-man Everton hold on to a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Wednesday night.

Michael Keane had put Everton ahead from close range on 17 minutes, then teenager Mateus Mane levelled for Wolves with composed finish with around 20 minutes remaining.

Keane ended up getting sent off for pulling the hair of Tolu Arokodare on 83 minutes, then Jack Grealish also got dismissed in 90th minute for a second yellow card.

Wolves came very close to coming away with a winner, but Pickford produced a spectacular save to keep out Hugo Bueno’s long-range effort.

Everton boss David Moyes said: “We started OK, we got in front and should have got further in front at the time.”

On Michael Keane’s red card: “It wasn’t a deliberate action of pulling the hair. It certainly wasn’t violent.

“If you have longer hair, then there’s a fair chance you’ll get it pulled. If you don’t have it long then you won’t get it pulled. This was done in an action in the game. Maybe if we all grow our hair longer, then we might get more red cards against us. It’s not deliberate.”

On Jack Grealish’s red card: “Correct by the referee.

“We didn’t play well and it meant that Wolves got better. They had something to chase. We were half holding on to it and should have got a second goal.

“Very little positives. We’re short of players and we need these players.”

A club statement on Friday read: “Everton Football Club is disappointed to report than an appeal against Michael Keane’s dismissal in Wednesday’s Premier League fixture with Wolves has been rejected by an FA panel.

“Whilst the majority ruling of the three-person panel to uphold the dismissal and three-game suspension is a decision we must accept, we are nevertheless surprised.

“We appealed in the firm belief the incident did not meet the threshold for violent conduct as defined in the rules, and that the action was neither forceful nor intentional.

“Our appeal was also lodged in support of Michael Keane, a player who plays the game with the highest ethical standards and who, prior to Wednesday, had never been dismissed for violent conduct in his career. It is our firm belief that the severity of the three-game suspension is clearly excessive, and we are surprised and disappointed that this point of appeal has also been rejected.

“Michael’s suspension begins immediately, and he will now not be available for our forthcoming fixtures against Sunderland, Aston Villa and Leeds United.”

Wolves boss Rob Edwards, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “Once Jack Grealish gets sent off and we’re playing against nine men, I thought we played into their hands. We needed more direction. We needed to put crosses into the box from different places. We pushed. It’s progress still. With 11 men, we got back into it with a great goal.

“They’re good in transitional moments but we showed we have a few who can handle it as well. Both sides were looking jaded. It’s been a busy period. We started flat.

“We need to try to find a way to get back in the game and Jordy [Strand Larsen] did that straight away. I felt Andre would give us more energy and fresh impetus. Credit to them.”

On Mateus Mane: “He had to dig in today. You could see he wasn’t 100% in terms of his energy but he has got some energy. We have to make sure we look after him now.

“We want to try keep this momentum going.”

Everton defender James Tarkowski, speaking to Sky Sports: “Second half was bizarre. It’s not often you spend the last few minutes with nine men. We lost our way a little bit and it opened up. It was a poor goal to concede. I’ve never seen anything like it at the end, it was bizarre.

“We couldn’t get up to the ball and we seemed to be open in the midfield. Tactically, we didn’t get it right on the pitch and they played right through us for the goal.”

On Michael Keane’s red card: “I’ve seen it back. I understand the rule: if someone pulls someone’s hair intentionally, then it’s a red card. There are a couple of components to it, really. First of all, Michael Keane is the most placid character you could ever meet. He’s never had any intention to harm. Maybe an experienced referee at this level knows Michael Keane wouldn’t do that. It’s only his second game at this level. His hand has to go on his back to protect his head.

“I even spoke to the lad after the game and he wasn’t asking for a red card. It’s a three-match ban now over something that is absolutely nothing.”

On Jack Grealish’s red card: “I think we’re all frustrated at that point. Jack will hold his hand up and say he needs to remain composed there. We need our players on the pitch. We dealt with it in the end. We’ll take the point and move on.

“We need to start winning at home again. We finished the game with nine men and we’ll never win like that.”

Mane, speaking to Sky Sports: “It was an amazing feeling. We deserved the three points. We’ve got to keep working and we go again on Saturday in the FA Cup.

“They had two red cards so we thought to attack them and put balls in the box. We did that but we were just unlucky not to get the goal.”

On what Rob Edwards said at half-time: “He told us to keep going and the ball will come. He said work, run, attack.

“I feel like I had space between the defenders. I took a touch and slotted into the bottom corner.

“I’m not scared of anyone, I deserve to be here and I’m now I’m proving what I can do. He tells me to express myself and be brave one-on-one.

“We’ll fight and whatever happens, happens. We want to stay in the Prem because it’s the best league in the world.”

Here’s how fans reacted as Moyes vents fury at a ‘ridiculous’ red card decision after nine-man Everton hold on to a 1-1 draw with Wolves…

@MrRyanLeister:
#wwfc | #EVEWOL
Moyes: “it’s certainly not a deliberate action”
I don’t know what’s worse, him saying it or if he actually believes it.
What a silly sausage he’s made himself look with this.

@WazzaMayes: How’d you wrap your hand around someone’s hair like that accidentally? Had his hand got caught in it fine but he wrapped his hand around it 🤨🤷‍♂️

@Georgewwfc2: Out of curiosity, how the fuck can you not deliberately pull someones hair ? #wwfc

@Everton_Extra: Referee is the number one talking point, but nothing should hide how poor again we were, but i don’t know what people expected from players who’ve had us battling relegation. Moyes has had to try and navigate them results.

@Darren22_WWFC: What do you mean it wasn’t a deliberate action? You expect me to believe it was an accident that he grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back? Silly old goat.

@BlueNosePanda: Moyes is going to ruin Tyler Dibling and £40mil with it. McNeil should not be playing 90mins (poorly) when a young talent is on the bench and a CB shouldn’t be playing RB, our right side is completely ineffective going forward 😡

@PGJ9: Red cards aside that was a absolutely embarrassing performance! Wolves are one of the worst teams I’ve ever seen! All Everton players need to hang their heads in shame! Moyes disgrace with his team selection last two games aswell!

@kev83mav: Game management absolutely awful! Sat back and the inevitable happened, all the positivity and hope from last week gone in 4 abysmal days!

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