Maurizio Sarri says he will speak to Chelsea staff member who antagonised Jose Mourinho and Manchester United

The Chelsea boss apologised to Mourinho at the full-time whistle

Maurizio Sarri has admitted that he will speak to Marco Ianni after his second assistant coach made the “big mistake” of infuriating Jose Mourinho with his celebration for Ross Barkley’s 96th-minute equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United, and said he apologised to the Portuguese.

The Chelsea staff member erupted in front of the United bench following the late injury-time goal, and Sarri realised his side were at fault. The incident had sparked a melee between the staff, and then the players.

“I spoke with Jose after and realised we were wrong in this situation,” the Chelsea boss said. “I spoke with my staff, and then agreed to speak to Mourinho and say sorry. Now, I think it’s finished. We made a mistake. We were in the wrong on the situation.”

Asked whether there would be repercussions for Ianni, Sarri said: “I don’t know at the moment, I want to speak to him in the game, but I have that situation immediately. So of course I have to speak. I want to be sure he understands it was a big mistake.”

Sarri meanwhile said that he was disappointed his team stopped playing “their football” once United equalised Antonio Rudiger’s opening goal, and resorted to “long balls”. He said he wants to properly study the second half to see why they changed.

“I always want to play for three points,” Sarri said. “For 50 minutes, we played our football. Then, after 1-1, we didn’t play our football, only the long ball. We are not organised for the second ball. In this type of football, United is better than us. I am really disappointed in this type of performance. The 2-2 in the last minutes is OK, OK for the confidence of my players, but I have to look at something else. I have seen the match from the bench, and now want to study the second half of the match.”