Mauricio Pochettino breaks silence on Pep Guardiola handshake snub after Chelsea 4-4 Manchester City
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino apologised to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after failing to shake his hand after their clash on Sunday, November 12.
The two sides played out a thrilling 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday. As referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle, Chelsea appeared to be setting up a counter-attack. This saw Pochettino storm on the pitch instead of shaking hands with Guardiola.
After the game, though, the Argentine apologised to Taylor and Guardiola, saying (via Eurosport):
"I need to apologise to Anthony [Taylor] and the officials. In this moment, I feel Raheem [Sterling] can go through to score the fifth. In this moment when we finish the game, I turn to Anthony and say 'What the, you know, is going on? Why stop in this moment the action?'
"Then, I turned and said 'I deserve to be booked' because yes, I crossed the limit. I want to apologise because it is not a good image for me and for football, this type of behaviour."
When asked about his handshake snub with Guardiola, Pochettino said:
"Yes, I want to apologise to him because in this moment I didn't see, I was focused on the action. So I want to apologise to Pep also."
Pochettino was also booked for his dissent towards referee Anthony Taylor.
Chelsea hold Manchester City to a thrilling 4-4 draw before international break
The Blues welcomed Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on the back of a stunning 4-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. City, meanwhile, had hammered Bournemouth 6-1 in their previous league game.
On Sunday, the Cityzens drew first blood as Erling Haaland converted a penalty (25') after being fouled in the box by Marc Cucurella. Thiago Silva, however, restored parity four minutes later with an excellent header from a corner.
Raheem Sterling then scored against his former club in the 37th minute before Manuel Akanji made it 2-2 (45+1') just before half-time. Erling Haaland restored Manchester City's lead from close range (47') before Nicolas Jackson equalised for Chelsea (67').
Rodri then made it 4-3 in the 86th minute and many expected Manchester City to put the game to bed. However, Chelsea's persistence and quality paid off as Armando Broja won a penalty in stoppage time. Cole Palmer, another former City forward, scored (90+5') to make it 4-4.
With the win, Manchester City retained their position at the top of the league while Chelsea remained 10th. City have just a one-point lead over second-placed Liverpool, whom they face at home after the international break.