Everton were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur 0-4 in the second round of the English Premier League in the 2024-25 season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 24th (Korea time). Son Heung-min's multi-goal exploded on the day, and Everton, who failed to stop him, lost again following the first round, falling to two consecutive losses after the opening of the league.
Everton was truly hopeless. Most of the Everton players, who felt a crushing defeat during the match, played the rest of the time with dark expressions.
Meanwhile, Neil Mupay's expression was caught on the broadcast screen. Mupay, sitting on the Everton bench, was looking at the stadium with a mournful look on his face. After that, the game was over and Mupay was unable to play. He stayed on the bench for two consecutive games following the match against Brighton and Hove Albion on the 18th.
Tottenham fans were excited to see Mufei's expression. This is because Mufei once mocked Tottenham's James Maddison last season.
Mupay had been active in Everton's jersey since 2022, but was pushed out of the starting lineup and left on loan at Brentford last season. He then faced Tottenham in the 22nd round, where he scored the first goal and displayed a dart celebration that provoked Tottenham and Madison.
Madison and Tottenham players were embarrassed by this. Since the dart celebration was Madison's representative celebration, there was a lot of intention to provoke. Also, Madison and Mufei had no close relationship, and Tottenham players were enraged by the unexpected provocation. Later, Tottenham responded to Mufei's provocation by performing dart celebrations when scoring, and Tottenham won 3-2.
After the game, Madison shot Mufei through an interview with a broadcaster. Since then, Madison was eliminated from the UEFA Euro 2024 England squad in June, and he was in a deep frustration. However, Mufei posted a picture of himself holding a dart through his social network service (SNS). There was no direct mention of Madison, but the timing of uploading the picture was exquisite and could be interpreted as an intention to mock Madison.
Later, a new season began, and Mupay returned to his original team, Everton, but has yet to make an official appearance. On the other hand, Maddison had one assist in front of Mupay on the day.
