Reaction from Everton, Tottenham and the Super Sunday studio following Andre Gomes' horrific injury in 1-1 draw at Goodison Park
Monday 4 November 2019 21:15, UK
Andre Gomes will undergo surgery on Monday after suffering a fracture dislocation to his right ankle in Everton's 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, the club have confirmed.
Portugal international Gomes sustained the horrific injury on 79 minutes after he collided with Heung-Min Son and was propelled into Spurs full-back Serge Aurier.
Son, who had been caught in the face by a flailing arm from Gomes moments before, was initially shown a yellow card by referee Martin Atkinson, but that was upgraded to red once the severity of Gomes' injuries came to light.
Both sets of players, backroom staff and supporters close to the incident were visibly distraught, while an inconsolable Son made his way down the tunnel in tears.
Everton were trailing 1-0 at the time of Gomes' injury but fought back against the 10 men to claim a 1-1 draw after a Cenk Tosun header deep into added time, though the result paled into insignificance alongside Gomes' plight.
Everton manager Marco Silva told Sky Sports: "I saw the challenge live and nothing more. I cannot talk to you about the tackle, the incident, other things that happened.
"Andre has gone to hospital. The medical staff are taking control of everything and they will have more information. It is better we wait until it is a little bit more clear.
"Of course, it is a bad moment for us as a group and as a team. Of course, it is more than a football game. But now we will support Andre and his family."
Toffees boss Silva added: "My opinion will not change anything, I have to be fair with Son, it was a strong tackle, but I am 100 per cent sure when Son did that, he did not do it with intention to do something bad to Andre.
"We are talking about two fantastic football players, for sure he did not mean to make something bad to Andre Gomes."
Sky Sports pundit Louis Saha: "You see the reaction of Son and it is nothing intentional. Sometimes you get broken legs and you see the defender really trying to hurt you, but that is not the case here. You can say it is part of the game or life sometimes and it doesn't go your way, but it is unfortunate."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: "We feel very sorry. It was a really bad situation, bad luck with how he landed, and we can only send our best wishes. We are of course devastated for the situation.
"Football is not important, he is important and the situation and we can talk about football but always feeling bad, feeling sorry and very devastated for the action because it was so difficult."
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Pochettino added: "It was clear it was never the intention of Son for what happened. It is unbelievable that he saw a red card.
"It's possible [to appeal the red card], but I don't know."
Pochettino was asked if Son would speak to a psychologist after the traumatising events at Goodison Park, he replied: "We are the best psychologists.
"The physios, the doctors, his team-mates, and the players from Everton were fantastic, I want to say thank you. To (Seamus) Coleman, the captain, they came to the dressing room to console Sonny.
"Of course Serge (Aurier) feels sorry too, of course the emotion is there. These situations are so bad, and the result is less important. But for sure it is not only Serge or Sonny, we are all affected by this situation."
Everton and Turkey striker Tosun was the first player to console Gomes as he crouched down onto his haunches to embrace his team-mate on the ground.
After salvaging a point for his side with a well-taken header, the 28-year-old was visibly upset at the final whistle, and took to his Instagram account to pay his own tribute to the Portuguese midfielder.
He wrote: "You win, you draw, you lose but all that doesn't matter when something like this happens.
"I wish I didn't score, I wish we lost 0-5 and this didn't happen. I know you will come back stronger bro and we will be there for you Andre Gomes."
Sky Sports co-commentator Jamie Carragher: "It's not a red card. If you give a red card for that then every challenge is technically endangering the safety of an opponent.
"We didn't want to show it on the replay but I could see it in front of me. Gomes actually gets injured in between the two challenges in some ways, and the Son challenge does force him to fall as his leg, unfortunately, gets stuck underneath him just before Aurier comes in.
"I don't think it's a red card for Son but maybe in the future, on the back of this injury, if anyone makes a challenge when they know they can't win the ball, which is what Son has done, that maybe the next step that we take in terms of red cards.
"There's very few players in football who really want to hurt someone and I think we've all been on the end of a bad tackle in our careers and given one to someone.
"Yes, it is about Andre Gomes but I'm glad to see the Everton players have gone into the Spurs dressing room because it will affect those Tottenham players really. I'm glad no one has gone against those Tottenham players and people have said that it is just one of those things that happens really."
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli: "I didn't want to look too much at what happened [to Gomes]. All I can do is send him my best wishes and wish him a quick recovery.
"Son is devastated, he's in tears, but it's not his fault. He's one of the nicest people you would want to meet and he's not like that. He can't even lift his head up he's crying that much in the dressing room."
Louis Saha, who broke his leg while playing for Everton, added: "It was a horrific memory [breaking my leg]. It is not something you really expect to come back from quickly because you have a memory always coming back.
"It's a moment where you need your family around you, you need your team-mates sending you messages and making sure you feel supported because it is very tough."
