Harry Kane‘s reaction to receiving a hand in the face from Abdoulaye Doucoure which led to the Everton midfielder being sent off was described as “embarrassing” by Jamie Carragher.
The incident occurred just before the hour mark after Kane had tripped Demarai Gray by the halfway line next to the dugouts during Spurs’ 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park.
After fouling Gray, Kane tackled Doucoure who angrily confronted the striker leading to an altercation which ended with the midfielder putting his hand into Kane’s face. Doucoure was given a straight red card, much to the frustration of Sean Dyche on the touchline, who evidently felt that the England captain had exaggerated the contact.
Initially, it looked as though as it would cost the Toffees as Kane put Spurs in front from the penalty spot 10 minutes later after Michael Keane had fouled Cristian Romero.
However, Keane redeemed himself by scoring a superb strike from distance as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, earning Everton a crucial point in their battle against the drop.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher and Gary Neville were in agreement that Doucoure deserved to be sent off, but split on Kane’s actions.
“Listen, the debate is not about the red card, Harry Kane should not go down for that,” Carragher said. “He should not be going down. It can still be a red card for putting your hand in somebody’s face, Doucoure is wrong and I’m sure Sean Dyche will tell him that. I wouldn’t go down there, as a player.
“I don’t think there’s nowhere near enough to make you go down, and again, if I’d done that on a pitch I’d be embarrassed and if I watched my own son, who is a player, if I saw him do that – yes, it might help his team win, the opposition are down to 10 men – but when we get back in the car I’d just say what were you doing there? Don’t ever do that again on a football pitch.”
A moment of MADNESS from Abdoulaye Doucouré and Everton are down to ten men!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2023pic.twitter.com/dwQ81QxQ3O
However, Neville, who worked with Kane during his time as a coach under Roy Hodgson, came to the striker’s defence.
Neville said: “There’s no debate on the red card at all, we’re all in agreement that Doucoure puts his hand up, everybody’s said that ultimately you can’t do this and you should be sent off.
“I suppose the only debate that we’re having is whether Harry Kane should go down. To me, I’m gonna do a little bit of a demonstration with James Carragher, he said it was a hand in the face and that, Harry Kane should never go down.
“I said to Carra that the only thing I’ve had before is when someone puts a clasp if you like, the claw, and it goes on your eyes it does shock you. I’m not saying Harry Kane should go down, but that one there [a clawed motion with the hand] does throw you back. It is very different to a hand in the face.”
When asked about the red card incident, Dyche said: “The whistle had gone and the challenge doesn’t need to be made. Doucoure has to then go for it as he sees Kane lining it up.
“He’s got to challenge for it but then you can’t raise your hands. We know that. I just don’t think the challenge needed to be made.”
Analysis: ‘Spursy’ Tottenham show Everton how to self-implode
By Daniel Storey, i‘s chief football writer
They stood at Goodison ready to rue the Monday evening on which Everton were given motive, opportunity and means to pull themselves clear of doom and chose self-implosion instead. But sometimes you just have to doff your cap to your opponent and admit when you are beaten. Everton are not the self-implosion champions of this league, after all. Tottenham are in town; let them show you how the professionals do it.
Sean Dyche has nine more reasons to believe. But if Everton had met an opponent this malleable and still found a way to lose, relegation would have been inevitable and deserved. You can pick a team and plot your path to salvation, but it requires heads to be kept. Nobody on this pitch could do that.
It is an unlikely storyline, but Dyche is now one of the most important individuals in Everton’s modern pantheon. If reports from the auditors are to be believed – and they are notoriously not prone to making up scare stories just for a laugh – relegation might cause a financial apocalypse at Everton. Right now, this club is peering over the precipice at their own gross wastage. Championship football and, more importantly, Championship broadcasting revenues would give them a nudge in the back on a blustery day.
That can express itself in two ways: nervous existentialism that transposes itself into the jelly legs of footballers, or raucous, throaty desperation that inspires them. Goodison is determined to commit to the second act because they realise the magnitude of what is at stake. Nobody who left Goodison on Monday night knows if they can really make a difference, but my god they intend to try.
Who knows what it means, just yet. Who knows if dreams, hopes and decades in the top flight will die over April and May. But we can be sure of two things: Everton will fight tooth and nail to avoid their destiny. And they will be fortunate to face an opponent as willing to assist their own decline as Tottenham. Plus ça change.
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