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 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 Kane 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.
Despite that, the game’s contentious moment dominated Sky Sports’ post-match discourse, with Carragher and Gary Neville split on whether Kane should have gone to ground after the clash.
“Listen, the debate is not about the red card, Harry Kane should not go down for that,” Carragher said on Monday Night Football. “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.”
However, Neville, who worked with Kane during his time as a coachunder Roy Hodgson, came to the Spurs 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.”
