London: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger became involved in a touchline shoving match during their sides’ Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.Kick-off at Stamford Bridge was delayed by 15 minutes as officials slowed the entry of Arsenal fans into the away end after a flare was set off.
Then there was a flare-up of a different kind when Wenger clashed with Mourinho after the Gunners’ Alexis Sanchez was fouled by Gary Cahill. “There are two technical areas not one,” said Mourinho. He (Wenger) was coming to my space,” Mourinho said.
In another incident in the action-packed match, Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois went off due to suspected concussion following an earlier collision with Sanchez. Wenger, whose side were thrashed 0-6 on their last visit to Stamford Bridge in March, was angered when Mourinho leapt from the dug-out to remonstrate after Sanchez went down under a challenge from Cahill mid-way through the first half, and pushed the Portuguese in the chest.
The two men were separated by the referee, but continued to exchange words afterwards.The provocative Mourinho is no stranger to controversy, while Wenger has been involved in similar incidents with Alan Pardew, who was managing West Ham United at the time, and former Tottenham Hotspur coach Martin Jol.
