Pochettino receives FA response after furious referee tirade "crossed the limit"

13 November 2023 , 17:48

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Pochettino receives FA response after furious referee tirade "crossed the limit"

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino will not face further punishment from the Football Association, despite admitting he "crossed the limit" following his side's dramatic 4-4 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

Pochettino was booked after storming onto the pitch to confront referee Anthony Taylor, with the 51-year-old furious that the final whistle was blown when he felt Chelsea had a chance to snatch a late winner.

He also forgot to shake hands with City manager Pep Guardiola and apologised to both Taylor and Guardiola after the game. "I need to apologise to Anthony, the referees and the fourth official," Pochettino said.

"In this moment, I feel that maybe Raheem can go through and go to score the fifth and in this moment when the game finishes I turn and say: 'what the …?' You know, what's going on. I said: 'why stop in this moment, the action.'

"Then I turned and said 'I deserve, I deserve to be booked.' Because I crossed the limit, so I want to apologise because it's not a good image for me and for football, this type of behaviour.

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"I also want to apologise to Pep also because I did not see him in this moment." And because Taylor dealt with the incident at the time by booking Pochettino, he will not face any further action from the FA for his behaviour.

Pochettino has already been booked once before this season and will receive a one-match touchline ban if he receives another yellow card. Reflecting on the game as a whole, Pochettino said he was "very proud" of his team's performance.

Mauricio Pochettino confronted referee Anthony Taylor after Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Manchester City (Getty Images)

"We showed the character, showed that we have also tools against a team like Manchester City to go for the goal and to dominate and to have the capacity to create chances," he added. "I think it's really important today.

"From Monday, maybe it's the point to start building our confidence and to believe in the way we are working. Now it's about to translate how we will compete in the future. I'm very proud.

"So happy, I think the players deserve full credit because the performance this evening was amazing. We face a team that for me is the best team in the world. Of course, always things to improve but it's the process when you want to build a journey and want to build a project from zero."

Matthew Cooper