Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has pointed the finger at his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Antonio Conte for their touchline row at the weekend.
Chelsea and Tottenham played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (August 14). The hosts took the lead twice in the game, but saw them nullified by their opponents both times.
Kalidou Koulibaly opened the scoring for the Blues with a powerful volley in the 19th minute. Tuchel’s side held on to the lead until Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg equalized midway through the second half.
Reece James restored the lead for the Stamford Bridge outfit less than ten minutes later. The hosts appeared to have sealed the game, but a last-minute equalizer from Harry Kane saw the game end in a 2-2 draw.
Despite the events on the pitch, it is Tuchel and Conte’s touchline row that has grabbed the headlines. The two managers initially faced off after Hojbjerg’s controversial goal in the 68th minute.
Tuchel was left infuriated by referee Anthony Taylor for not spotting Rodrigo Bentancur’s alleged foul on Kai Havertz moments before the goal. Conte, on the other hand, celebrated the equalizer in front of the German, which immediately led to a clash between the two.
The Chelsea manager then added fuel to the fire as he celebrated James’ goal by running past Conte and the Tottenham dugout. The two went on to clash again after the final whistle.
They seemingly put everything behind them and shook hands after the match, as is the norm. However, things got out of hand when Tuchel refused to let go of the handshake, resulting in both of them being shown the red card.
Reflecting on the incident, Tuchel explained that he felt disrespected by Conte refusing to look in his eyes when shaking hands. The German also admitted that the issue was unnecessary. He told Sky Sports [via The Mirror]:
“I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, he [Conte] had a different opinion. It was not necessary but a lot of things were not necessary.”
Chelsea and Tottenham now have four points each after two matches and sit seventh and fourth in the Premier League respectively.
No hard feels with Tottenham’s Conte, says Chelsea boss Tuchel
Tuchel went on to claim that there were no hard feelings after his touchline row with Conte. He pointed out that their actions were triggered by their passion for their respective teams. He said:
“There are no hard feelings. I feel like it was a fair tackle from him [Conte] and a fair tackle from me. We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we are fighting for our teams.”
The managers will once again lock horns with each other when Tottenham host Chelsea in the league in February.