[ad_1]
LONDON — Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte tried to shrug off the dramatic face off that earned them red cards in a thrilling London derby but the performance of Anthony Taylor was no laughing matter for the Chelsea manager as he suggested the referee should not take charge of Blues’ matches again.
Both managers had been booked in the immediate aftermath of the first equalizer in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea before a post-match handshake lasted altogether too long as they squared up to each other once more at the final whistle.
Conte had reacted in exuberant fashion to both equalizers, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg driving low from outside the box on 68 minutes before Harry Kane rose to flick home a corner in the dying minutes of the match. Tuchel was hardly blameless either. When Reece James fired Chelsea into the lead for the second time he proceeded to sprint down the touchline in celebration, right past the Tottenham dugout.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave both managers a straight red at the final whistle, which would rule them out of their next game. The on field fireworks did not extend into the post match press conferences, where both coaches were keen to laugh off their histrionics, with Tuchel even suggesting that he had somewhat enjoyed the set to and thought Conte might have also.
“I just compared it two players who had a bit of fight on the field but nothing happens, nobody gets injured,” said the Chelsea boss. “The two managers got involved today because both of us were fighting for our teams. That was it. Nobody got insulted. Nobody got hurt. We didn’t have a fist fight. For me, it’s not a big deal.
“It was such an intense match. Both dugouts are very, very close. Did I enjoy it? Yes and I think he did as well.”
Conte was similarly eager to build bridges across London, repeating on more than one occasion that the stramash was “not a problem.” He said that Taylor “did not…
[ad_2]
Source : cbssports
