Manchester United vs Man City tunnel row: FA assessing referee's derby report

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James Olley11 December 2017

The FA were today assessing referee Michael Oliver’s report from Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Manchester United before deciding whether to take action over an alleged tunnel bust-up at full-time.

City won at their fiercest rivals to surge 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League, a result which reportedly prompted an altercation outside the dressing rooms with players and staff from both clubs said to be involved.

It has been confirmed to Standard Sport that a series of heated exchanges took place, with Jose Mourinho at the centre of several incidents as the United boss expressed his belief that City’s celebrations were over zealous.

Two unconfirmed reports suggested Mourinho had milk and water thrown at him, while another suggested City coach Mikel Arteta required medical treatment after being seen with blood on his face.

If Oliver mentions any issues in his report, the FA will then determine which charges to bring and could request CCTV footage of the tunnel and dressing room area in order to shed light on the guilty parties.

The FA may launch a separate investigation in any case, especially if either Mourinho or City manager Pep Guardiola elaborate on this morning’s reports at their press conferences on Tuesday.

The fracas stoked memories of the infamous ‘Battle of the Buffet’ in 2004 between United and Arsenal when Gunners midfielder Cesc Fabregas threw a slice of pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson in a melee between the two sets of players.

Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were also said to have squared up to each other but no charges by the FA were brought due to insufficient evidence.

Yesterday’s flare-up took place before Mourinho conducted his pre-match media duties - there was no sign of milk or any substance on his clothing - and he chose instead to focus on Oliver’s failure to award United a 77th-minute penalty for a challenge on Ander Herrera.

Instead, Herrera was booked for diving. "Clear penalty," said Mourinho. "I’m sorry for us, for Michael, I think he had a good game but it’s a clear penalty. Don’t you agree?

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"The referee made a mistake, which can happen. Last season, we had a similar situation against Manchester City, who were winning 2-1 and Mr [Mark] Clattenburg didn’t see the penalty of [Claudio] Bravo on [Wayne] Rooney.

"I’m sorry for Michael Oliver because he had a good performance.

"He is a human being, he tried his best, he was very committed to have a good match, which I think he had. But he made one mistake and it was crucial for the result of the match."

When those comments were put to Guardiola, he replied: "Last season it was the same.

"We won here and the comments, it was the referee. Today the referee as well, so today he has spoken about the referee. We are an honest team."