Ancelotti charged by FA with misconduct

Carlo Ancelotti has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) after being sent off following Everton's draw with Manchester United.

The Toffees boss was seen remonstrating with referee Chris Kavanagh at full-time of the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park on Sunday, leading to the official brandishing a red card. Ancelotti was angered by the decision to rule out a late Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal, which was chalked off following a VAR review as Gylfi Sigurdsson was lying on the floor in front of United goalkeeper David de Gea when in an offside position.

Former Chelsea boss Ancelotti will reportedly avoid a touchline ban if he accepts the charge, for which he has until Thursday to respond. An FA statement read: "Carlo Ancelotti has been charged with misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3. It is alleged that the Everton FC manager's language and/or behaviour on the field of play at the end of the Premier League fixture against Manchester United FC on Sunday 1 March 2020 amounts to improper conduct. He has until Thursday 5 March 2020 to provide a response."

Speaking after the game, Ancelotti insisted he had not been disrespectful towards Kavanagh.

"I asked for an explanation after the game. There was a misunderstanding on the pitch and he sent me off," Ancelotti said. "After that I spoke with him calmly in the dressing room. I want to keep our conversation private and now he will make a report for the FA and we will see. I didn't disrespect him, but I can understand because, for the referee, there were a lot of important decisions at the end of the game. But I didn't disrespect him. It was a difficult decision because they checked the position of Gylfi, and it was offside, but in our opinion it didn't affect the vision of the goalkeeper. In their opinion it affected the vision and movement of the goalkeeper."