Skip to content

Jose Mourinho accepts apology from Chelsea coach Marco Ianni for celebration

Ianni celebrated Chelsea's last-gasp equaliser in front of Mourinho

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Jose Mourinho says Maurizio Sarri's second assistant Marco Ianni has apologised to him following their altercation after Chelsea's equaliser

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he has accepted Marco Ianni's apology for celebrating Chelsea's last-minute equaliser in front of him.

Ross Barkley's 96th-minute leveller at Stamford Bridge gave Chelsea a 2-2 draw after Anthony Martial's double had seemingly given United the victory, prompting Maurizio Sarri's second assist Ianni broke out of the bench to celebrate in front of the former Chelsea manager.

A scuffle then ensued as Mourinho attempted to argue with Ianni, which took a few minutes to settle down and involved over 20 players and staff. Mourinho says a lack of education was to blame, but, accepted the mistake.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Mourinho reacted angrily to Ianni's celebration

He told Sky Sports: "I am not annoyed with anything. What happened was with Sarri's assistant, and Sarri was the first one to come to me to say he would resolve the problem internally with me. After that his assistant come to me in Sarri's office and apologised to me.

"I immediately said if you really feel that way, and you want to apologise, of course I accept apologies, and to forget it because I made lots of mistakes in my career. So I'm not going to kill you because of one.

Match report
As it happened

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Maurizio Sarri says he will deal with his staff's over-celebration

"Forget it, it's over, he apologised and it's over."

Also See:

Asked if he got respect from the Chelsea fans, Mourinho said: "No, I don't think. But that's not my responsibility. I have a certain level of education, socially and in sport, and what I did here today, I will do one day in Madrid, Porto, Milan, I will try to behave the same way, but then the reaction of the fans is up to them, not up to me."

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Graeme Souness says Anthony Martial has the potential to be one of the best players in the Premier League

Chelsea boss Sarri, meanwhile, says he will deal with Ianni in the near future and will have to be "hard" on him, and says the club will take responsibility for the melee.

"Sincerely I have not seen, but then I spoke to Jose, of course then I spoke to the staff member, because I think we were on the wrong side. So I have dealt with this immediately.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Paul Pogba reacted with frustration after Chelsea's opener - but the Sky Sports pundits thought he was to blame

Asked how he will deal with Ianni, Sarri added: "I think it is private. I have to be very hard. I cannot come here and tell everything, otherwise with my staff I am not credible.

"I am not really happy. As I said before, after I have spoken with Jose I understood that we were on the wrong side of the situation."

Win Jeff's £1MIL
Win Jeff's £1MIL

Predict 6 correct scores for your chance to win Jeff's £1 million.

Around Sky