'I Did Not Disrespect the Referee'- Carlo Ancelotti

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti says he "did not disrespect" the referee despite being sent off following a disallowed goal at the end of his team's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

Ancelotti went onto the pitch at full-time to confront Chris Kavanagh after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's injury-time strike was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee.

Gylfi Sigurdsson was lying offside in front of United goalkeeper David de Gea when the goal was scored, leading VAR to rule it out.

Ancelotti said he thought the midfielder "didn't affect the vision of the goalkeeper".

And he said he would be "disappointed" if the dismissal resulted in being banned for the trip to his former team Chelsea next Sunday.

The Everton boss is the first Premier League manager to be a shown a red card since the rule was introduced last year.

Ancelotti said: "There was no explanation [from the referee]. I asked for one. After the game there was a misunderstanding on the pitch, he sent me off, after that I spoke with him calmly.

"I want to keep this conversation private, now he's doing a report to the Football Association and we will see.

"For sure I didn't disrespect him, but I can understand also at the end of the game, there is a lot of pressure and excitement, a lot of important decisions but I didn't disrespect him."

The incident was a controversial end to a feisty game, in which both sides benefited from goalkeeper errors one by De Gea and Jordan Pickford and both teams hit the woodwork, while a total of seven yellow cards were shown.

But the biggest drama came in injury time when De Gea saved Sigurdsson's shot, with Calvert-Lewin tapping in via a deflection from a United player as the Icelandic midfielder lay on the floor in front of the goalkeeper.

The offside laws state that a player can be offside if he or she is "clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision".

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he thought that was the case, adding: "David told me he gets distracted because Gylfi Sigurdsson is there."

But Ancelotti said: "I honesty think it was a difficult decision. They checked the position of Gylfi, who was offside, but in our opinion it didn't affect the vision of the goalkeeper."

Everton defender Michael Keane described it as a "ridiculous" decision.

"How has that goal been disallowed for us?" he asked on BBC Radio 5 Live. "De Gea has gone the other way because he can see the ball and it was going towards that corner. Then it hit Harry Maguire - I think it was Maguire anyway - and it's gone right in the corner.

"There's not a chance he's getting back to save it. VAR screwed us again."

Ancelotti, who has won three Champions League titles as manager of AC Milan and Real Madrid, also entered the pitch during the game when he helped break up a player scuffle following a foul on Luke Shaw.

Despite his emotions running high, the Everton manager returned to his normal calm self afterwards, joking about previous misdemeanours.

Asked whether he had been sent off before, he said: "It's not the first time, it will not be the last. But I never disrespect.

"It can happen of course, at the end of game I was a little nervous, maybe the referee also, we spoke in a friendly manner after the game. No problem.

"If I'm banned I will be disappointed. But the stand at Stamford Bridge is really close to the pitch so I will be there!"

FROM .bbc.com/sport/football