Mauricio Pochettino admitted he was ‘annoyed’ by some of his players and issued an apology to Manchester United after their pre-season game against Spurs turned surprisingly feisty.
United emerged 2-1 winners against their Premier League rivals in Shanghai with goals from Anthony Martial and Angel Gomes cancelling out Lucas Moura’s deflected strike.
However, the game was surprisingly competitive with Dele Alli booked for a rash challenge on Scott McTominay before Moussa Sissoko sparked a mini melee for a stamp on Daniel James.
The Welshman, in particular, seemed to be singled out by Spurs’ players for rough treatment as he was fouled on numerous occasions during the first half.
Pochettino was irritated by the actions of some of his players post-match but insisted it was not their intention to cause injury to any of the United players.
He said afterwards: ‘I was a little bit annoyed about some situations. Not happy. It is a friendly game. I apologise on behalf of our players to Manchester United.
‘It is football. It was not the intention but sometimes you arrive late and something can happen.’
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn’t appear too bothered by Spurs’ actions, though, saying: ‘It’s a competitive sport. We’re preparing for the league. That’s why we have referees.
‘I thought it was a very good preparation. There was no tippy-tappy football – you went in when you were supposed to tackle. I have no qualms.’
United did suffer an unfortunate injury, however, as centre-back Eric Bailly was forced off shortly after half-time with an innocuous-looking knee injury.
The Ivory Coast international injured his knee during United’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea in April and Solskjaer revealed he will have to have a scan once United have returned from their tour.
‘He’s done his knee but we are not sure how bad it is,’ Solskjaer said. ‘We need to get back to Manchester and do the scans.’
