Old Trafford [UK], November 25 : In another low for Ruben Amorim's Manchester United, the Red Devils succumbed to a 1-0 loss to a 10-man Everton side after Idrissa Gueye was shown the red card for striking his own teammate Michael Keane.
During the clash on late Monday night, Gueye produced extraordinary scenes at Old Trafford by getting into an argument with his own teammate, and replays showed the midfielder raised his hands to the defender's face. While he apologised to his team at full-time.
After Gueye was shown the red card, Manchester United failed to capitalise on his absence. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall produced a stunning effort from the distance. Running solo till the edge of the box, he fired past a helpless goalie Senne Lammens' outstretched gloves, continuing United's goalkeeping struggles this season, as per Sky Sports.
The half-time scoreline was in Everton's favour. United failed to take full advantage of their extra man in the first half, and players were booed off. Their best chance came from Bruno Fernandes, who struck from 30 yards, but Jordan Pickford saved well.
The Red Devils, missing the services of Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha due to injury, suffered the same problems in the second half. The half-time substitute saw Mason Mount putting his two chances wide, while Pickford once again pulled off a save to prevent Bryan Mbeumo from scoring.
United almost found the goal when Joshua Zirkzee, starting off in his first game for the club in 225 days, forced Pickford to make two wonderful saves, but then he headed a cross from Kobbie Mainoo wide.
Following the red card, Amorim said to Sky Sports, "Frustration, disappointment with the way we played the game. They were the better team with 11 men. They defended really well with 10 men for 70 minutes. We deserved to lose. We did not play well, with the right intensity."
"We are not there, not even near the point that we should be to fight for the best positions. We have a lot to do. We have to be perfect to win games, we were not perfect to win games."
Speaking on the Everton red-card, Amorim said that he disagrees with the send-off that Gueye received.
"Fighting is not a bad thing. Fighting does not mean they don't like each other. Fighting is if you lose the ball, I will fight you because we will suffer a goal. That was my feeling with that red card."
"I do not agree with that sending off. We can fight with teammates. I know it is violent conduct, the referee explained it, I do not agree with that. I hope my players, when they lose the ball, they fight each other. I hope they do not get sent off, but that is a good feeling not a bad feeling."
"My players showed in many games we can do it. Today, we did not. I need to help them. We need to be better in the future," he concluded.
Now, United are at the 10th spot in the table with five wins, three draws and four losses, giving them a total of 18 points.