Idrissa Gueye: Everton midfielder sent off for striking team-mate Michael Keane against Manchester United

Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off for striking team-mate Michael Keane just 13 minutes into the Toffees' Premier League game at Manchester United.

After Bruno Fernandes' shot flew wide, Gueye - who misplaced a loose pass towards Keane in the penalty area to give the ball away in the build-up - began berating his team-mate.

Replays showed Gueye raising his hand to Keane's face - before being sent off for violent conduct by referee Tony Harrington.

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However, the ferocity of the 'slap' was questioned by Gary Neville on co-commentary.

"How much venom was in that slap?" said Neville. "He has been sent off for that. Was it a little slap or a proper whack?

"There is no doubt a hand comes out to the face but it didn't look too much. They might have had to send him off purely because there is a strike to the face.

"They were not fighting, it wasn't a scrap. It could have been dealt with by a yellow. I don't think it needed to be a red."

Jamie Carragher said at half-time in the Monday Night Football studio: "I just think: can a referee manage the situation a bit better?

"Can you get the two of them together and say: 'Hey can you behave yourselves?' Just sort of manage the situation, rather than that's the rulebook.

"The rulebook gives the referee a bit of an out. He could say: 'I don't think it's over the top' and then you can carry on 11 vs 11."

Monday Night Football guest Roberto Martinez, the Portugal head coach, agreed with the red card decision.

The ex-Everton boss said: Clearly, it's a misunderstanding; Gueye is trying to play the ball [to Keane], but it's that reaction, the slap.

"The referee has no other choice because the law tells you that any aggression above the neck is a red card."

According to the Premier League rules, striking an opponent or any other person on the head or face with their hand or arm represents violent conduct, unless the force used was negligible.

"Was it negligible?" pondered Neville. "That's the question. I think it was negligible. I don't think there was much in that at all."

Gueye is now set to be suspended for Everton's next three games.

The Senegal international became the first Premier League player sent off for striking his own team-mate since Ricardo Fuller for Stoke City against West Ham in 2008.

It is only the third time a player has been sent off for striking a team-mate, after Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer's infamous double-red card in 2005.

IN PICTURES: Gueye's moment of madness!

What happened with the Bowyer-Dyer and Fuller incidents?

When Bowyer and Dyer clashed in 2005, the former was handed a seven-game ban in total - an initial four games for it being his second red card of the season, before the FA handed an additional three matches to the suspension.

Bowyer was also given a £30,000 fine, with the midfielder then leaving for West Ham in the following summer.

Meanwhile, in 2008, Stoke striker Fuller was sent off for striking his captain Andy Fuller. The striker claimed the situation actually helped team morale. Fuller stayed at Stoke until 2012.

"It's one of those things. It's done and dusted, and it's made us stronger as a unit," Fuller said.

"Sometimes in life, negatives can bring about positives, and I'm pleased that we've got by it in a positive way."

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