Antonio Conte screamed ‘play the ball’ at Jose Mourinho during their touchline row in Chelsea’s win over Manchester United on Monday evening.
In the first half at Stamford Bridge, Antonio Valencia’s robust challenge from behind on Marcos Alonso sparked anger from the Chelsea manager, who immediately turned to confront Mourinho in the technical area.
Conte was shouting ‘again, again, again, again’ to the United manager in reference to the number of heavy tackles on his players and then followed up with ‘play the ball’, according to the Daily Mail.
In his post-match press conference, Conte admitted he was unhappy with United’s heavy-handed tactics, particularly towards Eden Hazard.
‘In 20, 25 minutes for Hazard, it was impossible for him to play football,” said the Chelsea manager.
‘I see only that he got a lot of kicks. I don’t think that I’m crazy and I see only him in this situation.
‘He started receiving kicks and finished receiving kicks. No one person can say this did not happen.’
