I had to apologise for what Man City squad did in Manchester United dressing room – it wasn’t our intention

A large-scale fight broke out in the Old Trafford tunnel in December 2017 after Manchester City’s 2-1 victory against Manchester United, which put the Blues 11 points ahead of their rivals in the Premier League standings.

Fierce derbies between Manchester United and Manchester City are nothing new. England derbies are still constantly played on the edge, even though they have obviously transformed over the past few years compared to earlier decades. There’s always a possibility that they won’t stop, on or off the field.

The Manchester derby now has a new dimension because to the Blues’ domestic success after the takeover in 2008. No matter the competition or location, City is now almost always picked to win instead of United, who used to enter the match as the favorite.

In many respects, the meeting between the two parties in December 2017 felt like a flashback. Though the match on the field was thrilling, the news was dominated by occurrences off the field.

At Old Trafford, City opened the score in the 43rd minute through a goal from David Silva. But Marcus Rashford tied the score during first-half added time. The first half of the session had been engaging, and the second half continued that trend. The game was close throughout, but the 54th minute goal by Nicolas Otamendi gave the Blues, who had been leading, the advantage once more.

Reds committed 16 fouls, compared to City’s ten. Two of Pep Guardiola’s players had been carded and four of Jose Mourinho’s team had received warnings. Most of the viewers found it frustrating that the game had to end since, although the intense game had been highly exciting, the drama was far from ended.

The two managers shook hands after the game, like they do after every game. With a 2-1 victory over their fiercest rivals, City ascended to the top of the Premier League standings by 11 points. Guardiola rejoiced with his staff before thanking the Blues supporters, as Mourinho hurried to the tunnel.

After the game, Sergio Aguero stayed in the tunnel conversing while Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne—who won Man of the Match—conducted TV interviews. The City players were enjoying their well-earned triumph, but things took an unexpected turn because the away team’s dressing room is located near the United coaches’ lounge.

Frustrated with both the outcome and his team’s performance, Mourinho went to the City dressing room door and asked the Blues players and staff to be more respectful of their opponents by turning down the music and noise. The Portuguese coach’s request reportedly infuriated Ederson, who was standing near the entryway, and the two apparently started hurling insults at one another.

Mourinho reportedly told Ederson, “You f****** show respect!” according to The Telegraph. “Who are you?”

A one-pint milk container was thrown in Mourinho’s direction after the discussion. The manager of the Reds was unharmed, but a staff member at United was wounded by flying glass. The noise caused United’s players to emerge from their changing rooms.

A number of people were involved, and tempers were rising. Romelu Lukaku was eager to lend his manager his backing, and the Belgian striker was more than willing to engage in heated debate. In the middle of the chaos, Mikel Arteta, the coach of the Blues at the time, is believed to have been slammed against a wall and City captain Vincent Kompany to have been held. The altercation lasted for two minutes, during which the Spaniard cut his skull.

The brawl was broken up by stewards and a policeman stationed in the tunnel, and after that, both sets of players went back to their respective dressing rooms and the situation immediately subsided.

Mourinho made no mention of the altercation in his interviews with Sky Sports, the BBC, and other rights holders, even though he went to talk with referee Michael Oliver in the referee’s room. Furthermore, the brawl was not brought up in the Portuguese coach’s press conference following the game.

In a similar vein, Guardiola remained silent about the tunnel altercation when he emerged a minute after Mourinho.

In their post-match interviews, Mourinho and Guardiola continued to irritate one another despite not discussing the altercation. The former called his own team’s defense “disgraceful” and asserted that the Blues had benefited from special treatment from the officials.

Mourinho had stated that Oliver’s decision not to give a penalty in the 79th minute, following Ander Herrera’s fall due to Otamendi’s challenge, was incorrect and that City was fortunate to secure a record 14th straight victory. Herrera was scheduled to go diving instead.

After accusing City of being irresponsible in the lead-up to the game, Mourinho added, “They are lucky, I think they have all these decisions in their favor.” We can talk about anything you want, including football philosophy, statistics, and ball control, but much like the previous season, this is a major penalty at a pivotal point.

“You don’t expect City to score two shameful goals; you expect them to score great goals.” Although they appeared to be in control, Ederson’s double save is the biggest save.”

However, Guardiola recalled similar jibes after the 2-1 win at Old Trafford the previous season, saying: “It was the same. But we won because we were better. In all departments we were better. I don’t know the plan from my opponent but we came here to try to win.

“We did the same at Stamford Bridge. I am happy because so many people say you cannot win in England playing like this. It’s still only December. If we have an 11-point lead when we play the derby in April then maybe I will tell you we have the title.”

Both clubs were required to provide the Football Association with their versions of the fracas. Unsurprisingly, both sides believed the other to be culpable for the incident. While some form of punishment was widely expected, the FA revealed late in December that “no formal action” would be taken against City or United.

Given that Oliver did not witness the incident – and did not file a report – the FA were left to investigate the skirmish.

“Following a review of the evidence provided by the clubs and independent eyewitnesses, the FA will be taking no formal action,” an FA statement said.

After a while, Mourinho gave an explanation of his involvement in the incident. He talked about “diversity,” yet he was evasive about the altercation.

When questioned about the incident by reporters, he responded, “The only thing I can say is it was just a question of diversity; diversity in behaviors, diversity in education.” “Just that, nothing more. I’m going to stop there.

After the match, Guardiola responded to Mourinho’s criticism by saying his team hadn’t intended to irritate their neighbors.

“We didn’t mean to upset United in that way.” We were thrilled, therefore we planned to celebrate our happiness in the locker room,” he remarked. “I apologize if anyone finds it difficult to understand. We wanted to celebrate in the locker room since we were so delighted about our derby victory. I apologize if we offended Man United in the process—not just one player, not Jose, not the players.

United finished in second place with 81 points, whereas City won the Premier League title by a margin of 19 points that season.

The next Manchester derby is scheduled to take place at the Etihad Stadium on March 3, as was previously revealed. Though it’s unlikely that there will be any pints of milk thrown in the tunnel, these games are rarely without incident.