FA Charges Everton

By Max Wise

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes has been charged by the Football Association(FA) with violent conduct for a bad tackle on Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic on Saturday.

Gomes, who is on a season-long loan deal from Spanish champions Barcelona, appeared to stamp on Mitrovic in second-half stoppage time at Craven Cottage.

The already-relegated Fulham defeated Everton 2-0 on the day to give caretaker manager Scott Parker a first Premier League win in six matches with second-half goals from Tom Cairney and Ryan Babel.

Referee Lee Probert and his assistants did not see the incident, and so no card was issued to Gomes, but he could retrospectively be banned for three games following the FA’s decision to charge him.

In a statement, the FA said: “Everton’s André Gomes has been charged with violent conduct. This follows an incident in the 95th minute of the Premier League fixture against Fulham on Saturday [13/04/2019] that was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.

“The midfielder has until 18:00 on Tuesday (16/04/2019) to respond to the charge.”

Andre Gomes’ all-action displays have seen him emerge as one of Everton’s players of the season, featuring in 26 Premier League games so far with one goal and an assist.

The 25-year-old former Valencia midfielder was a member of the Portugal squad that won the European Championships in France in 2016.