Gary O’Neil responds to Yerry Mina ‘bite’ accusation after Everton’s victory over Bournemouth

Gary O’Neil says he’s not aware of Everton defender Yerry Mina allegedly attempting to bite Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke in yesterday’s encounter.

The Toffees’ 1-0 triumph on the final day of the 2022-23 season ensured that they secured Premier League survival. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s 57th-minute thunderbolt proved the difference at Goodison Park.

Everton finished 17th in the table while Bournemouth secured 15th spot in their first campaign back in the top flight. But they were still determined to sign off with a victory and tensions flared in the second half. Solanke and Blues keeper Jordan Pickford clashed, which sparked a melee in the goal-mouth. There have since been accusations that Mina - playing his final game for Everton - attempted to bite Solanke.

However, O’Neil revealed that Solanke did not say anything about the incident after the game. Speaking at his post-match press conference, the Cherries boss said: “I haven’t seen it back. He hasn’t said anything to me - I’ll check it. I just think, over the course of the season, the ones that have gone against us have. Disappointed but anyway who maybe questioned Bournemouth’s motivation and how we’d arrived, we’ve come and given absolutely everything to win a game of football. We didn’t stop for a second so in terms of intergrity and coming to a tough place, I was very proud of what I saw.

“We got to 39 points early and it’s given us a few weeks to work on stuff we need to improve. There were lots of it, somerrally good situations we had and I’m excited to look forward with them again next season. They’re an incredible group and it’s my responsibility to keep them improving.”

On the incident between Pickford and Solanke, O’Neil replied: “I haven’t really had time to look at too much. I had a look at the penalty incident maybe in the first half - Mina on Dom - and that could have been given. But I haven’t looke closely at the Pickford-Dom situation. I can’t really comment. Dom hasn’t said anything to me but if he was then I’m sure that it will be looked at.”