Chelsea boss Poch apologises to Pep, officials after outburst

Mauricio Pochettino has apologized to Pep Guardiola and match officials after his outburst at the end of Chelsea’s 4-4 draw with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea boss took to the pitch at full-time to argue with referee Anthony Taylor about stopping the match as Chelsea searched for a fifth winning goal.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)

Pochettino failed to shake City manager Guardiola’s hand and was booked for scolding Taylor, before being dragged away by two members of staff at the end of a thrilling encounter in which his side saved the draw thanks to Cole Palmer’s penalty in the 95th minute.

“I have to apologize to Anthony [Taylor] and the officials,” Pochettino said. “Right now I feel that Raheem [Sterling] can qualify to score the fifth. At that point, when we finish the game, I turn to Anthony and say, “What’s going on, you know? Why stop the action at this point?

“Then I turned around and said ‘I deserve to be warned’ because yes, I crossed the line. I want to apologize because this type of behavior is not a good image for me and for football.

Pressed to ignore Guardiola at full time, Pochettino said: “I also want to apologize to him. At that time I didn’t see him. I was only focused on the action. So I want also apologize to Pep.”

Guardiola played down the incident when asked. “No problem,” he said. “It’s no problem. I don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Everyone with emotions, it’s happened to me sometimes. It’s fine, honestly. I don’t want you to misunderstand, in the past It happened with Pochettino but it’s okay. Absolutely, completely fine.”

Erling Haaland’s 25th-minute penalty gave City the lead before Thiago Silva and Sterling struck for the hosts. Manuel Akanji equalized for City in first-half stoppage time, then Haaland headed home the ball from close range to give the visitors a 3-2 lead in the 47th minute.

Nicolas Jackson equalized again after 67 minutes before Rodri’s deflected strike in the 86th minute appeared to give City all three points. But Rúben Dias fouled Armando Broja in the area and Palmer converted the resulting penalty against his former club.

City are one point clear at the top of the Premier League heading into the international break, where Chelsea sit in tenth place with 16 points.