Mourinho at it again

Stewards hold back Mourinho (L) as he clashes with the Chelsea backroom staff at Stamford Bridge

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho sparked a touchline brawl on his return to Stamford Bridge as ugly scenes marred Saturday’s match with Chelsea.

Blues second assistant coach Marco Ianni celebrated Ross Barkley’s late equaliser in front of Mourinho, prompting Mourinho to jump to his feet and spark a brawl.

Replays showed Ianni punch the air in delight right in front of the Manchester United manager before running past him in celebration a second time.

Mourinho attempted to chase the coach down the tunnel but was intercepted by both Manchester United and Chelsea staff members, as well as stewards and police. The situation was quickly brought under control, but the Manchester United players could be seen arguing among themselves on the pitch.

Mourinho played down the incident after watching his side concede a heartbreaking late equaliser as Chelsea preserved their unbeaten Premier League record on Saturday.

Ross Barkley scored in the sixth minute of injury time to level the match at 2-2 after Anthony Martial had scored twice in the second half to cancel out Antonio Rudiger’s opener.

When asked about the incident, former Chelsea boss Mourinho said: “Oh come on, I can tell you that 97 minutes of the game was so good that you have to focus on that.

“I did not get respect back from Chelsea (fans) but that is not my responsibility. What I did here today I will do in Madrid, in Milan, in Porto, the reaction from the fans is not up to me.

“I am not annoyed with anything. What happened with (Maurizio) Sarri’s assistant, Sarri was the first one to come to me and say he will resolve it.

“The assistant has already come to me and apologised, I told him to forget it. I have made a lot of mistakes in my career.”

United, the better team Mourinho, who won three Premier League titles in two spells at Chelsea, said United were the better side.

“We were the best team on the pitch. If you say before the game that one point at Stamford Bridge is a good result, it is so difficult to win here but after the game with the way the game was it is an awful result for us and a phenomenal result for them.

“We were in the game, we controlled their triggers, (Eden) Hazard and Jorginho was well controlled. “After we were 2-1up we had possibilities to score the third goal, we were the best team, we were calm in control. I hope every referee does the same as Mike Dean and gives six minutes, I don’t know where they came from. We always tried to play, there was no time-wasting.”

The result means Chelsea go top of the table, at least temporarily, but United are still languishing in eighth spot, seven points off the pace. Chelsea goalscorer Barkley hailed his team’s never-say-die attitude.

“My confidence has grown but our target was to win the game so it is disappointing,” he said.

“The manager told me to help the team win the game and try and get a result. We conceded a goal that we should have stopped but we came back.”