DAVID MOYES SLAMS "EMBARRASSING" VAR AFTER MICHAEL KEANE APPEAL IS REJECTED
David Moyes attacks "bizarre" FA ruling on Michael Keane's hair-pull red card. Get the full scoop on the Everton boss's outburst.
David Moyes didn’t hold back after Everton lost their appeal over Michael Keane’s red card. Keane got sent off—thanks to a VAR review—for pulling Tolu Arokodare’s hair during an aerial challenge late in the game against Wolves. Everton tried to overturn the decision on Thursday, but the FA panel shot them down. So, Keane’s out for the next three matches.
Everton put out a statement confirming the bad news just before Moyes faced the press ahead of their FA Cup clash with Sunderland. The club said they were “disappointed,” but Moyes went much further. He was furious, especially after watching Gabriel Martinelli get away with just a yellow for shoving an injured Conor Bradley off the pitch during Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool the night before.
“Hugely disappointed. Hugely surprised. Honestly, I’m more angry with the panel who thought that was the right call,” Moyes said. “I know exactly who was on that panel. I can’t believe none of them overturned it. Are they calling that violent conduct?
“Last night, you could throw a ball at someone, push them, or even pick up a player who’s clearly hurt, and that’s fine. But Keane accidentally pulls someone’s hair and gets a three-match ban? That’s just bizarre to me.”
Moyes kept going: “He shouldn’t be banned at all. Honestly, I’m embarrassed for whoever’s running VAR. You’ve got a young ref doing maybe his third or fourth game, and VAR dropped him in it with a terrible call.
“What Keane did somehow gets him three games and a red card, but there was another tackle in that game that was much worse, and VAR didn’t even look at it. Feels like they’re getting everything backwards right now.”
He didn’t stop there. On Keane’s situation, Moyes added, “I’m just saying what I think. If I talk too much, they’ll just fine me for speaking out of turn. But if they want us to come on TV and talk, we should at least be able to tell the truth. That’s how I see it.
“Maybe it sounds like I’m saying there’s inconsistency, and honestly, I don’t have a huge issue with that. I just want them to do their jobs as well as possible. But if this is their best, then they’re in trouble.”
The chaos didn’t end with Keane. Jack Grealish also saw red against Rob Edwards’ side—two yellows for dissent in three minutes at the end of the match.
Moyes admitted he originally thought Grealish was out of line for clapping the ref, but then he saw clips of other players doing the same thing and not getting booked.
He said, “I wasn’t going to talk about the other decisions—they’re in the past, and there’s no point. But now that you mention it, I realise there have been a few more calls that went against us recently, and they’re tough to take.
“I thought Grealish was wrong at first, but then I saw other players clap the ref and get away with it—no booking, no sending off. We’ve seen handballs waved away, too. Now that you bring it up, yeah, there have been a few decisions that have definitely gone against Everton.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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