Chelsea and Tottenham took part in a wild London derby on Sunday, one which saw both managers issued red cards after the final whistle was blown. The controversial 2-2 draw was overshadowed by both Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel as the two managers needed to be separated from one another on multiple occasions during the match. Speaking with reporters after the draw, Tuchel didn't hold back when ripping into the decisions from the referees, as well as the exchanges with Conte, via Shamoon Hafez.
Tuchel: "Both goals should not stand. Only one team deserved to win, that was us. I don't know how many tactical fouls Hojbjerg and Bentancur did today. Since when can we pull hair in a football match? They checked and nothing happened, absolutely ridiculous." #CFC #Spurs
— Shamoon Hafez (@ShamoonHafez) August 14, 2022
Tuchel slammed the officials for some crucial missed calls, including a Rodrigo Bentancur tackle that went unpenalized, as well as an incident in which Cristian Romero was seen taking Marc Cucurella to the floor by pulling his hair. The two missed calls results in goals for Tottenham, who scored an equalizer with just moments left in the game.
When asked about his goal celebration, Tuchel admitted he may have taken things a bit far.
“In the middle I thought I should not do this, but sometimes a match gets you and this one really sucked me in. It was pure joy, it may offend our opponents but they did the same,” said Thomas Tuchel via Hafez.
Tuchel also answered questions about his exchange with Conte, during which he said: “There are no hard feelings. I feel like it was a fair tackle from me. We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other. We are fighting for our teams.
Both managers ended up downplaying the nature of their heated exchange on Sunday, though it's quite clear how close the pair were to fully throwing punches at one another. It's only a matter of time until the next time these two clubs face off in what should be another equally thrilling exhibition.
Antonio Conte vs. Thomas Tuchel round two, anybody?
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