NOW JOSE LANDS VERBAL BLOW ON CITY
Pep insists City won’t halt their celebrations
JOSE MOURINHO has accused Manchester City of lacking class, believing they wildly overstepped the mark and sparked a furious Old Trafford tunnel bust-up after Sunday’s derby. On a day that Pep Guardiola offered an apology if Manchester United felt that his squad had gone too far with their celebrations, Mourinho chose to add fuel to the fire, insisting that City’s celebrations were over-zealous. Sportsmail revealed yesterday that several of United’s senior players were staggered by a lack of respect by their rivals. And Mourinho, who spoke shortly after Guardiola sat down to start his media duties, fired a shot across town. ‘He (Pep) says, he says,’ Mourinho said. ‘I am not here to comment on his words. The only thing I can say is that for me, it was just a question of diversity (difference). Diversity in behaviour, diversity in education. Just that. And
nothing more than that. The diversity of behaviour, of opinion, of education.’
Guardiola was at that point busy offering an olive branch by way of apology following the rugby scrum along an Old Trafford corridor which marred Sunday’s derby.
‘If we were not correct then I apologise to all of Manchester United,’ the Catalan said. ‘ Our intentions were not that. It was to celebrate inside the locker room.
‘If we offended United — not just one player, not Jose — Manchester United, then I apologise.’
Mourinho bemoaned the lack of questions surrounding tonight’s game against Bournemouth and cut short a terse press conference after just seven minutes.
He left the room saying: ‘ You don’t like Bournemouth, hey? You don’t respect them? No respect for Eddie Howe? No respect for the players?’
The fracas remains a touchy subject. Players and staff traded insults in Spanish and Portuguese and threw punches inside the cramped tunnel area, with Mourinho having been angered when a bottle struck him.
United stars were peeved at the reaction of their rivals, some of whom — including Ederson and Kyle Walker — were photographed celebrating as they made their way towards the away dressing room.
Eyewitnesses have claimed video footage of the fracas exists. It is believed City’s social media team had cameras in the tunnel but the club say they were taking still pictures rather than filming. However, the FA can request any video or photographic evidence to assist them with their investigation.
Guardiola, who revealed City had already filed their observations to the FA, said his squad have no plans to calm down after matches. Tonight the runaway Premier League leaders are seeking to break an all-time top-flight record with a 15th consecutive win at Swansea.
‘It was correct, believe me,’ Guardiola added. ‘We jumped because we were happy. It was the same as the Southampton game. We won a derby against United, at the moment our biggest rivals.
‘So if people expect we don’t celebrate — no. We celebrate, a bit like when United win the derby games, they celebrate. When Arsenal win against United, they celebrate. Where? Inside the locker room and that’s what we tried to do.
‘At Old Trafford when you go to the home locker room you have to pass the away one, and we were inside celebrating. But that is normal. We celebrated in Napoli when we qualified (for the last 16 of the Champions League). So you have to do that. But inside. It was what we did last season and what we will do in the future. What happened in the locker room (afterwards) happened. Hopefully it is never going to happen again.’ Mourinho (below) fundamentally disagrees with that account, claiming United’s attitude after beating Arsenal at the Emirates earlier in the month was in complete contrast. ‘What we did in the Arsenal stadium was completely (different),’ he said. ‘What we did, what happened after that match, the way we behaved as winners.’ United’s manager finished his press conference with an awkward exchange with a television reporter who asked if he was confident of his players’ conduct. Mourinho replied: ‘ I know. I am not confident. I know.’ Guardiola said he showed respect to United by refusing to approach the away end at full time. Members of his coaching staff were seen pointing towards the away fans. ‘I did the ridiculous thing with Nathan Redmond,’ the manager said, referring to his remonstrations to the Southampton winger after City beat them last month. ‘I don’t want to do that, believe me, but sometimes you do. Sometimes you can control yourself and say, “OK, it’s not necessary to go there”.’