Everton: Harry Kane accused of risking ‘ligament-damaging injury’ to Abdoulaye Doucoure before red card incident vs Tottenham
Michael Ball is “fully behind” Abdoulaye Doucouré for reacting to Harry Kane despite it getting him sent off as Everton drew with Tottenham.
The Malian midfielder was shown a straight red for putting his hand in the England captain’s face with the scoreline goalless on Monday night (3 April), in a game that finished 1-1.
But, while comparing the situation to one that saw Sadio Mane do much the same to Mason Holgate and receive no punishment, former Toffees defender Ball understands why Doucouré lost his cool because he believes Kane had nearly given him a serious injury.
In his Liverpool Echo column on Wednesday morning (5 April): “He shouldn’t do it but Harry Kane fouled Demarai Gray, the whistle is blown, and Kane has gone right through him. That is a ligament-damaging injury to his knee because Doucoure isn’t going in wholeheartedly, he’s trying to stop the ball and Kane’s continued to go through – that reminds me of previous injuries I’ve had.”
He went on: “To me it shows that Harry Kane doesn’t trust the officials in the Premier League. Harry Kane, the England captain, doesn’t trust VAR and it shows the state of our refereeing in this country that the England captain has to throw himself on the floor to get a reaction to get the right decision in the end.
“He’s doubting that if he stands up, the referee will just give him a yellow card, he decides to throw himself on the floor to make the referee make it a straight red card.
“Would I go to war with Harry Kane? Not after that show and I feel the England captain let himself down. The way he milked it was embarrassing, he’s done it because he doesn’t trust the referees to make the right decision.”
Poor
It was an undignified incident all round and didn’t reflect particularly well on anybody involved, but Doucouré is the one missing for three games.
The Toffees man put himself at risk of a red card as soon as he put his hand to Kane’s face in anger, and that was a mistake that could cost him and Everton dearly in the games he misses.
Kane looked ridiculous as he lay on the Goodison Park pitch for an extended period of time clutching his face like he’d been punched, while Seamus Coleman crouched over him telling the Spurs star exactly what he thought of the whole thing.
The Three Lions skipper is rightly being criticised for that, but the Mane-Holgate incident at Anfield on 24 April last year shows the inconsistency of the officiating, and why players are encouraged to act up.
The former Reds star escaped punishment for attempting to poke the Everton defender in the eye, while Doucouré got a straight red on Monday, and Spurs’ Mousa Dembele was retrospectively charged with violent conduct and given a six-game ban in 2016 for a similar incident with Chelsea’s Diego Costa [Guardian], showing that the relative reaction from players, crowds and media have an effect.
But Ball is right to focus on why Doucouré reacted in the first place, because if Kane can claim he played up the injury to ensure the referee sent his opponent off, what good explanation does he have for apparently going if for a challenge on him in the first place?
He had already committed a foul and the whistle had been blown, so had Doucouré thrown himself to the ground and acted injured perhaps it would have been a red card the other way.