Manchester derby tunnel fight: Live reaction from Jose Mourinho as Pep Guardiola defends City's celebrations
Follow the latest as the two Manchester manager's face the media
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Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have spoken publicly for the first time since Sunday’s Manchester derby that ended in a tunnel fracas between players and staff of both City and United, ahead of this week’s Premier League fixtures. Follow the latest reaction here.
- Guardiola refused to be drawn on details of what happened in Old Trafford tunnel
- City boss defended his teams celebrations and confirms he encouraged them
- Mourinho would not comment on Guardiola's reasoning
- United manager did claim that fracas came through a 'diversity' of opinions
- Mourinho drenched in milk during tunnel row
- City’s assistant manager Mikel Arteta left with cut to his face
Follow the live news below...
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Manchester derby tunnel scrap timeline
Full-time: Manchester City beat United 2-1 at Old Trafford
A surely seismic result in deciding where the Premier League title goes this season. City beat United 2-1 and extend their gap at the top to 11 points. They become the first team in English top-flight history to win 14 successive games in a season.
On the touchline, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola shake hands. The former quickly disappears down the tunnel; the latter keeps his post-match celebrations to a respectful minimum.
Manchester United vs Manchester City player ratings
Show all 22Manchester City begin the party
As the players make their way down the tunnel and into their respective dressing rooms, City begin the party.
Their players triumphantly file into the away dressing room, stopping briefly to pose for photographers. Ederson animatedly pumps his fist for the cameras. Kyle Walker meanwhile makes a 2-1 gesture.
From the dressing room, Leroy Sane tweets a picture of all of City’s players grouped together in celebration. Somebody throws a handful of tickertape into the air and the music begins pumping.
Jose Mourinho goes to complain
The United boss is heading from his own dressing room to his post-match media obligations when he hears the noise from City.
He walks into City’s dressing room to make his feelings known. He says that City should “show some more respect”.
The row between Mourinho and Ederson ensues
After making his feelings known, Mourinho becomes involved in a row with the City goalkeeper, Ederson.
The two become involved in a heated exchange and begin trading insults in Portuguese.
The dispute turns ugly
Players from both sides now become involved as things turn ugly.
Milk and plastic water bottles are thrown at Mourinho, as United’s players rush to support him. Witnesses say some players attempt to swing punches as Old Trafford security staff rush to break things up. It has been claimed Romelu Lukaku was involved in the chaos.
In the melee, City coach Mikel Arteta receives a cut to the head which leaves him bleeding.
After things cool down, police remain stationed outside both dressing rooms.
Press interviews begin
After the dispute, both managers conduct their post-match interviews as usual.
Mourinho concedes afterwards that City's advantage in the title race is now at a "significant distance".
Asked if it could be clawed back, he says: "I don't know. We are going to work and fight for it. That is the only thing I say."
He also complains about the late penalty decision, which saw United's Ander Herrera booked for diving after a challenge by Otamendi.
"It is a huge penalty in a crucial moment of the game," Mourinho says. He also bemoans his side's luck.
City boss Pep Guardiola has no time for Mourinho's complaints. "We won because we were better, in all departments," Guardiola says.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's press conferences featuring Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, in the wake of Sunday's Manchester derby involving City and United and the ugly scrap in the tunnel after the final whistle.
Both managers will undoubtedly face questions surrounding the controversial incident, which is being looked at by the Football Association and could lead to a full investigation.
So far, we know that:
- Jose Mourinho was covered in milk during the melee
- A bottle thrown at Mikel Arteta left the City assistant manager with a cut near his eye
- United striker Romelu Lukaku and City goalkeeper Ederson both involved in fracas
Hopefully, what actually happened will become much clearer by the end of the day, while there is also the small matter of tomorrow's Premier League matches to look forward to as well.
Both press conferences are due to get underway at 13:30 GMT, and we'll bring you all the updates as they happen.
So how did we get here? As many had turned their attentions from Sunday's derby to other matters such as dinner, the return to work and the week ahead, the true story was only just starting to unravel at Old Trafford that the two sets of players had been involved in a tunnel scrap.
We had Mark Critchley there to report it as the news became public:
There was plenty of confusion surrounding what actually happened, with a number of players being accused of having a part in the fracas and Jose Mourinho alleged to have triggered off the argument by approaching the City dressing room upset with how loudly they were celebrating the 2-1 victory.
Here's what we know and how it happened:
Soon enough, the story gained traction and the Football Association announced that they were looking into the matter and wanted to hear from each club about their side of the story.
Both City and United have until tomorrow evening to respond.
Meanwhile, there was still plenty of reaction to what had just happened on the pitch, with United midfielder Ander Herrera evidently upset with his yellow card for diving. The Spaniard went to ground during the second half after a challenge from Nicolas Otamendi, and he pleaded his case afterwards by insisting he should be allowed to appeal his booking - something that is available in Spain but not in England.
The events at Old Trafford have not gone unnoticed by others, either. Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has had his say on the matter - having experienced his own fair share of scraps with rivals during his career - and he could not help but see the funny side of it.
The rivalry between Mourinho and Guardiola is a long-winded one that stems back to their time as managers of Inter Milan and Barcelona respectively, which has then followed them ever since and landed at the top of the Premier League.
But as Miguel Delaney discusses, is it an equal rivalry, or do results suggest that it's one-way traffic these days?
All of this raised the question for Jack Pitt-Brooke: how much better would Manchester United be if Pep Guardiola was their manager and not Jose Mourinho?
It's something that fans have questioned themselves this season, along with former players such as Eric Cantona and Andrei Kanchelskis, and you can see our verdict below.
Other managers have been asked about the Old Trafford fracas, with the Premier League displaying differing opinions on whether City were right to celebrate so openly:
Jurgen Klopp
“We’ve had one or two draws at home and I’ve heard loud music from the other side. I’ve got no problem with that. Everything is allowed as long as you show the right amount of respect.”
Arsene Wenger
"It's part of the intensity. It can go overboard. It happened to us. It happened to us. Hopefully you commit 100 per cent to the pitch and are an angel after. I don't know what happened really. It is difficult to take to see the 100 per cent celebration on the other side. It is an experience that's a little bit offensive."
Sam Allardyce
It's whatever they fancy doing. If they want to music, to sing and shout, that’s up to them. It’s not your decision to do anything about it as an opposition manager. If you've lost, you say to your players listen to 'that’s what you should be doing'."
Eddie Howe
"People need to understand the atmosphere in the tunnel after big games. It's inevitable that sometimes things will spill over. It's important to show respect, not rub faces in it when you win."
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