Everton failed to beat rock bottom Wolves at Hill Dickinson Stadium with David Moyes left furious as the Toffees had both Michael Keane and Jack Grealish sent off by Thomas Kirk, officiating only his second Premier League game
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| Jack Grealish of Everton reacts to referee Thomas Kirk sending him off(Image: 2026 CameraSport) |
Furious David Moyes described the decision to give Michael Keane a red card for hair-pulling as ‘ridiculous’. But the Everton manager did admit he was unhappy with Jack Grealish for following Keane to the dressing-room after collecting two yellow cards for dissent in the space of a few moments.
Young referee Thomas Kirk was sent to the video monitor by VAR Chris Kavanagh after Keane had challenged Tolu Arokodare late in the second half of the 1-1 draw with Wolves at Hill Dickinson Stadium. And as Keane appeared to tug Arokodare’s hair, Kirk decided he had no option but to dismiss the Everton centre-half, who had given his team a first half lead.
But Moyes fumed: “It is not violent, it is not forceful and it is not deliberate. So, all of those things I have said mean it shouldn’t have been a red card. I think it was a really poor decision to send him to the screen in the first place. (Marc) Cucurella got his hair pulled - violent conduct, a deliberate action, no problem with that.
“But this was in the game, on a ball coming up, and unless you have played the game, you might not understand. I have been a centre-half and there is no way I am jumping to out-jump a big centre forward and think .. ‘oh, by the way, I am going to out-jump him and, at the same time, I am going to pull his hair’
“I don’t know anyone on the planet who is good enough to think that way when they are jumping up. I thought it was a ridiculous decision by the referee but more by VAR. I thought the ridiculous bit came from VAR.
“If anyone grows their hair a bit longer, they have a chance of getting it pulled. Crazy. It was a ridiculous decision. Everybody was frustrated, everybody could not believe it.”
Moyes himself was so frustrated that he was booked by Kirk but the Everton manager was still annoyed with Grealish who was booked for dissent and was then dismissed for sarcastically applauding a Kirk decision. And when Moyes was asked if Grealish had been unprofessional and if he would be having words with the on-loan Manchester City man, he curtly replied: “Yes, I agree - and I already have done.”
Although Moyes is furious about the Keane decision, he was unsure whether the club would appeal against it, even though they now face being without their defender for three games. Grealish will miss one game for his two yellow cards.
Moyes, though, did admit he was not pleased with Everton’s performance prior to the Keane dismissal, which came in the 83rd minute - seven minutes before Grealish was sent off.
“Not great,” he said after a Mateus Mane strike had earned Wolves a point. “It was always going to be a difficult game but we could have gone two up before half-time. But we never really felt as though we got a grip of it.”
- Andy Dunn
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