Chelsea 4, Manchester United 0: Antonio Conte refuses to entertain Jose Mourinho’s touchline rant
Defiant Chelsea boss Antonio Conte refused to denounce his actions after incurring the wrath of Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho during a nightmare return to Stamford Bridge for the former Blues manager.
Mourinho appeared to take exception to the Italian gesticulating towards the Chelsea fans in a bid to generate appreciation of their demotion of United, achieved courtesy of goals from Pedro, skipper Gary Cahill, rejuvenated Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante.
The irked Portuguese, who won seven major trophies across two spells with the Blues, confronted Conte at the final whistle. The ex-Juventus boss, however, was not prepared to retreat in the face of Mourinho’s protestations.
“It was right to call our fans,” said Conte. “I was listening to only the supporters of Manchester United after 4-0 and I called the fans to give a great clap to the players after this type of performance because they deserved it. It is very normal.
“If you want to cut the emotions, we can stay at home and I will change jobs.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, was unwilling to discuss the dispute, which was seen in some quarters as a means of deflecting attention from United’s faltering run of only one win from six Premier League matches.
He said: “You know me. I speak to Conte, I don’t speak to you. I’m not the kind of guy to come here and share with you things I don’t want to share.”
A third straight league victory moved Chelsea into the top four and just a point behind leaders Manchester City. Conte believes his side’s thrashing of the 20-time top-flight champions represented a significant statement of intent.
“This game was very important for our ambition,” added Conte. “After two defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal, it was very important to have a good answer. After this type of win, it increases the confidence. But I prefer to win the war, not the battle.”
Chelsea were ahead within 30 seconds as a hesitant Chris Smalling failed to deal with Marcos Alonso’s speculative ball forward and Pedro nipped in to round David de Gea and slot into an unguarded net.
The Blues were simply quicker, sharper and hungrier and United were staring down the barrel of defeat on 21 minutes as Hazard’s corner ricocheted off Ander Herrera and fell invitingly for Cahill to lash home.
Shortly after the hour mark, Nemanja Matic slid in Hazard, who cut inside an exposed Smalling and swept past De Gea.
Chelsea were not done and with 20 minutes remaining, Kante danced through lazy tackles from the wilting Smalling and Paul Pogba before firing past De Gea.