You keep telling yourself this is football we are watching but then along comes another incident that reminds us how bizarre the game has become.
This account should have been split between the efforts of a young midfielder, who caught the eye for Everton, and a debate on the decision makers at Molineux: what if they had sacked Vitor Pereira last October, rather than November, and given Rob Edwards an extra month to work with this squad.
Instead, the focus is a red card for Michael Keane, scorer of Everton’s goal. Chris Kavanagh, on VAR, adjudged the defender to be guilty of violent conduct for an accidental grab at the dreadlocks of Tolu Arokodare, as the pair contested an 82nd minute header.
Keane, indisputably, had hold of Arokodare’s hair momentarily, as he tried to get height above the towering striker. There was no hint of malice but, in his Stockley Park bunker, Kavanagh ordered referee Tom Kirk to look at a pitch-side monitor and, suddenly, there was opprobrium.
‘It was not violent,’ Everton manager David Moyes seethed. ‘It’s not forceful and it’s 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. I just can’t see how it warrants a sending off.’
The glare that accompanied the response indicated a volcano was ready to erupt. Moyes hissed the word ‘ridiculous’ several times, incredulity tumbling from every shake of his head. He was angry for many reasons: Keane’s red card, to the goal Everton conceded to another red card, for Jack Grealish.
Michael Keane, who opened the scoring for the Toffees, was sent off after a VAR review
Jack Grealish smiles as he is shown a second yellow card for dissent, reducing Everton to nine
MATCH FACTS
EVERTON (4-2-3-1); Pickford 5: O’Brien 5, Tarkowski 5, Keane 6, Mykolenko 6: Iroegbunam 7, Garner 6: McNeil 6 (Rohl 90mins), Armstrong 7 (Patterson 87mins), Grealish 5: Barry 5 (Beto 87mins)
Goals: Keane (17)
Booked: Iroegbunman
Sent-off: Keane, Grealish
Manager: David Moyes 5
WOLVES (3-5-2); Sa 6: Mosquera 7, Santiago Bueno 7, Krejci 6 (Strand Larsen 68mins 7): Tchatchoua 7, Arias 5 (Andre 46mins 7), Joao Gomes 7, Mane 7.5, Hugo Bueno 6: Arokodare 6, Hwang Hee-Chan 5
Goals: Mane (68)
Booked: Sa, Mosquera
Manager: Rob Edwards 7
Referee: T Kirk 5
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Dissent, twice, was the reason Grealish found himself expelled for the first time in his Premier League career. He’ll miss Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Sunderland, Keane faces a three-match ban and Moyes is yet to decide whether they will mount an appeal.
Asked whether Grealish should have shown more restraint, the short sentence in reply was as weighty as a thesis.
‘I agree,’ Moyes said, with a pause. ‘And I have already told him.’
This could have been a good night for Moyes, who had rewarded the promising Academy graduate Harrison Armstrong with a start and the 19-year-old responded impressively, asking to get on the ball whenever he could from a No10 position and never being afraid to express himself.
When Keane diverted in a shot from Tim Iroegbunam in the 17th minute, all seemed to be going to plan. A second goal before half-time would have made three point secure, particularly as Edwards was frustrated by the way Wolves had been so off-colour in the opening period.
Edwards, however, made tactical tweaks and decisive substitutions and in the 68th minute, Mateus Mane, a youngster fizzing with promise, latched onto a beautiful pass from Jorgen Strand Larsen and scored the goal that gave Wolves their fifth point in three games.
They would have had back-to-back wins had Jordan Pickford not pulled off a quite brilliant save to thwart Hugo Bueno in the dying minutes and Edwards thought it was in from the moment it left his boot. He had a good look at that but, diplomatically, hadn’t seen Keane’s red card.
‘I’ll do my best Arsene Wenger impression,’ he said. ‘All I can promise is that we will fight until the last minute of the 38th game. I’m pleased these players are responding.’
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Everton 1-1 Wolves: David Moyes seethes as Jack Grealish is sent off for dissent and goal-scorer Michael Keane sees red for bizarre HAIR PULL – gifting rock-bottom club a third match without defeat