Mourinho accepts apology from Sarri after Chelsea draw
Chelsea assistant coach Marco Ianni will be asked to explain himself to Maurizio Sarri for provoking Jose Mourinho when celebrating Ross Barkley’s late equalising goal in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
It was six minutes into second half stoppage time when Barkley scored to deny United a victory that would have eased the pressure surrounding their manager.
Ianni’s over the top celebrations in front of United’s dugout had a furious Mourinho leaping out of his seat and he was held back as he attempted to pursue Ianni down the Stamford Bridge tunnel.
Mourinho labelled the incident “bad education” on the part of Italian Ianni, who has apologised to the Portuguese.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri spoke to Ianni after the incident and revealed he will do so again on Sunday when he will ask him to explain his actions.
“Not celebrations, bad education,” said Mourinho, whose team had scored twice through Anthony Martial after falling behind to Antonio Rudiger’s header. “But I also made mistakes in football matches and I will make more.
“So after the game he came to me to apologise, I accepted his apologies, so (have) nothing more to say.
“Maurizio saw. Maurizio said he would take care of it internally, and to accept his apologies, which I did.
“But then the young fellow came, he also apologised and I told him ‘I accept your apology. I also did mistakes, especially when I was your age, and tried to improve’.
“(It was a) fantastic game with a fantastic result for Chelsea and an awful result for us.
“When you’re the best team, you want to win. If somebody tells me before the game ‘You go to Stamford Bridge you’ll get a point’, you say ‘Okay, that’s good’. It’s so difficult to win at Stamford Bridge that for any team one point feels like a positive result.
“But we were so much in control, we were so much the best team in the second half, we clearly deserved to win. The Ander Herrera situation, I saw (he should have put) the ball in the net for 3-1, but that’s football, and that’s a bad result.”
Sarri revealed he had apologised to Mourinho on behalf of Ianni, and his frustration over Chelsea dropping points after a promising start.
“After the match I spoke with Jose, and immediately I understood that we were wrong,” the 59-year-old said. “I have spoken with the member of my staff, and I again spoke with Mourinho to say sorry to him.
“I want to speak to (Ianni) again (before I decide if there will be further repercussions), but I have dealt with the situation immediately. I have to speak to him again because I want to be sure that he’s able to understand that it was a big mistake.
“I will speak to him again (on Sunday). Now the situation is between me and the staff, face to face.”
