Managerial spat spices up Chelsea v Spurs
LONDON: Call it the Battle of the Bridge — Part 2.
This time, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were the main protagonists in the latest feisty match between Chelsea and Tottenham that ended with both being sent off after a 22 draw following a goal deep into stoppage time from Spurs' Harry Kane.
That equaliser ended up being an afterthought, though, following the explosive end to the game at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
The drama brought back memories of 2016, when Tottenham's title challenge ended with a 22 draw against Chelsea as both sets of players and coaches clashed repeatedly on and off the field.
Six years on, it was the managers in the spotlight.
As Tuchel and Conte shook hands on the field after the final whistle, the German seemed to not let go of his grip and intimated that Italian Conte look him in the eyes.
They squared up and shouted in each others' faces, before players and coaches from both teams piled in, with pushing and shoving ensuing.
Tuchel and Conte were then shown straight red cards.
They had clashed during the match, too, when Conte celebrated Tottenham's first equaliser by PierreEmile Hojbjerg in the 68th minute.
He went up to Tuchel and barged into his chest, sparking a melee among the coaching staff and substitutes as Tuchel pointed to Conte and told him to stay in his part of the technical area.
Then, after Reece James put Chelsea back in front in the 77th, Tuchel set off on a sprint past Conte and down the touchline, clenching his fist in delight.
``I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, but Antonio had a different opinion,'' Tuchel said of the postmatch clash with Conte.
``He was happy when they equalised and it got a bit heated, but nothing big . . . I think it was not necessary, but a lot of things were not necessary.''
As for Conte, he did not want to talk about the confrontations that took place during and after the match, despite being asked repeatedly in his postgame interviews.
Kane's goal, a glancing header from a corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time, ended Chelsea's run of five straight wins over Tottenham in all competitions.
Conte deserves credit for the way his secondhalf substitutions changed the flow of a game that Chelsea dominated until that point.
Still, Tottenham might have been lucky with its first goal, which probably should not have counted, since there was a foul on Chelsea forward Kai Havertz by Rodrigo Bentancur that went unpunished before Spurs mounted their attack.
Chelsea defender Marc
Cucurella, who assisted on Kalidou Koulibaly's opener from a brilliant volley in the 19th minute, also appeared to have his long hair pulled at a corner before the one Kane scored from.
``We were absolutely brilliant,'' Tuchel said.
``Only one side deserved to win and that was us. Both their goals cannot stand.''
The result left both teams on four points from two games, with only Manchester City and
Arsenal ahead on a maximum six points.
Earlier, the premier league witnessed a victory 23 years in the making for Nottingham Forest.
Playing its first home game in the premier league since 1999, Forest somehow escaped with a 10 win over West Ham thanks to a fortunate goal by Taiwo Awoniyi, after a block from a defender struck his leg and ricocheted into the net. — AP