Mou on coach celebration: I told him to forget it

7:02 am | October 20, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

9:58 AM ET

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he has forgiven Chelsea coach Marco Ianni for his celebration of Ross Barkley’s late equaliser.

As Chelsea scored to make it 2-2, Ianni appeared to celebrate in front of Mourinho, sparking the United manager to get out of his seat and try to chase him down the tunnel before he was restrained by stewards.

But, questioned after the game, the Portuguese said it was in the past.

“Oh, come on. I can tell you that 97 minutes of the game was so good that you have to focus on that,” he told Sky Sports.

“I did not get respect back from Chelsea [fans], but that is not my responsibility. What I did here today I will do in Madrid, in Milan, in Porto, the reaction from the fans is not up to me.

“I am not annoyed with anything. What happened with [Maurizio] Sarri’s assistant, Sarri was the first one to come to me and say he will resolve it. The assistant has already come to me and apologised. I told him to forget it. I have made a lot of mistakes in my career.”

Mourinho later told BBC Sport: “It is not my reaction, it is Sarri’s assistant. He was very impolite, but Sarri took care of the situation. They have both apologised to me. I accept. For me, the story is over.

“Don’t do what everyone does and say, ‘It’s Mourinho who does things.’ I don’t know his name. I don’t need to know. Everything is fine.”

There was an ugly end at Stamford Bridge after Jose Mourinho was taunted by Chelsea’s second assistant coach Marco Ianni following Ross Barkley’s late equaliser.

Chelsea manager Sarri, speaking to Sky Sports, insisted that he had dealt with the issue.

“Sincerely, I have not seen [what happened], but I have spoken with Jose [Mourinho], then I have spoken with a member of staff because I think we were on the wrong side, so I have dealt with it immediately,” he said.

“If I speak to a member of staff and am very hard [with him], I cannot come here and tell everything, because then I am not credible with the staff.”