Tuchel, Conte face one-match bans after bust-up

LONDON • Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte are both facing one-match touchline bans after the pair received red cards for squaring up to each other in a fiery Premier League clash between Chelsea and Tottenham on Sunday.

Harry Kane's last-gasp header earned Spurs a point in a stormy 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge that saw plenty of flashpoints, including one at the final whistle.

Chelsea boss Tuchel and Tottenham counterpart Conte refused to let go when shaking hands post-match, leading to a fracas and their subsequent sending-offs.

Conte and Tuchel first squared up after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's equaliser following new Blues signing Kalidou Koulibaly's opener - his first goal for the hosts.

Chelsea thought they won the derby after Reece James gave them the lead in the 77th minute, leading to exuberant celebrations from Tuchel but, in the sixth minute of added time, Kane popped up to spoil the party and the German's mood.

Afterwards, Tuchel took aim at some of the refereeing decisions, claiming Kai Havertz had been fouled in the build-up to Hojbjerg's strike, and that Richarlison was offside and blocking the view of his goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

He added that Blues new signing Marc Cucurella, on his first start, had his hair pulled by Cristian Romero shortly before Kane's dramatic leveller.

"Pull someone else's hair, stay on the pitch and attack the last corner. This is for me without any explanation and I don't want to accept it. Both goals should not stand... we were brilliant, deserved to win," Tuchel said.

An online petition calling for referee Anthony Taylor to not officiate further Chelsea games was launched on change.org shortly after the draw and it received more than 108,000 signatures.

When asked about excluding Taylor, Tuchel said: "Maybe it would be better. But we also have VAR (video assistant referee) to help make the right decision. If he does not see it, I do not blame him. I didn't see it.

"But we have people at VAR who check this. Then you see it and how can this not be a free kick and a red card? This doesn't even have to do with the referee in this case. Huge, huge misinterpretation of situations."

When it was pointed out to Tuchel he would most likely miss Chelsea's next EPL game at Leeds United on Sunday, he added: "So... good. I cannot coach, but the referee can whistle the next game."

The English FA has since intervenced, investigating Tuchel for his comments on Taylor.

After the match, Conte continued his feud on social media, referencing Tuchel's celebrations and posting on Instagram: "Lucky I did not see you... making you trip over would have been well-deserved."

Despite the bust-up, the Italian felt the game showed the gap was closing between both sides.

After three successive losses to Chelsea with no goals scored since taking charge last November, Sunday was an improvement.

Former Blues boss Conte said: "If I have to compare last season and maybe six months ago, we played three games without playing because the superiority was clear.

"Today I have to be honest, in this game, Chelsea showed to be better than us. We can do better, but, at the same time, we scored twice. In the last three games, we didn't score. We got a point and we showed, in my opinion, character and personality because my players wanted to stay in the game until the end."

REUTERS