Home>News Center>Sports
         
 

Chelsea smile as rivals scrap
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-21 09:56

Jose Mourinho can afford a smile after rivals Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were told to stop squabbling.

Mourinho's Chelsea have all but wrapped up the title with 15 games to go, leaving Ferguson's Manchester United and Wenger's Arsenal to fight for the second automatic Champions league berth.


Alex Ferguson (pictured) and Arsene Wenger have agreed to end the war of words that has erupted between them over the last week after a peace summit between directors of their two clubs, Manchester United and Arsenal. [AFP]
Ferguson and Wenger, who have been trading barbs for several seasons, took their rivalry to a new low with a public row over alleged pizza-throwing in the so-called 'Battle of the Buffet' in the Old Trafford changing area in October.

The two sides meet again at Highbury on February 1 with just one point separating them at present -- second-placed Arsenal are a massive 10 points behind Chelsea -- and police concerned the managerial spat will exacerbate fan hatred.

"Any activity in the build-up to the game which increases the intensity and hostility of the supporters is not responsible and should be stopped," said police chief Barry Norman of the local north London borough of Highbury and Islington.

"If there is intense rivalry between the two sets of fans, which there is, then anything which increases that is unhelpful," said Norman, who will deploy some 180 police for the United game, almost double the average for Arsenal matches.

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein and United chief executive David Gill assured Premier League officials on Thursday the public feud between their clubs' managers would cease.

In a statement, the Premier League said Dein and Gill had "arrived at the meeting having already received assurances from their managers that public comments on recent issues between them cease".

DOMINANT CLUBS

It has become a spat unbecoming of managers at the top of one of the world's leading leagues between two intensely competitive men of markedly different backgrounds unaccustomed to fighting each other for second rather than first place.

Wenger is the urbane, French middle-class economics graduate from Strasbourg University who since his arrival in England in 1996 has become the biggest rival of Scottish working class, former Glasgow docklands union official Ferguson.

Portuguese Mourinho's huge influence on the league in his first season in England is clearly good for everyone except these two rivals who had turned the Premier League into a two-horse race.

Arsenal, under the Frenchman, have not finished outside the top two since his first full season in charge which ended with Arsenal's second Double in 1998. United have won the league four times to Arsenal's three in that period.

While Wenger and Ferguson have traded barbs off the pitch, their players have clashed on it, notably in September 2003. Four Arsenal players were fined and banned after they mobbed United opponents at the end of an ill-tempered 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. Arsenal were fined 175,000 pounds.

PIZZA THROWING

Hostilities reached a new head at Old Trafford last October when United ended Arsenal's unbeaten league run at 49 matches with a controversial 2-0 win.

Ferguson alleged that Arsenal players threw pizza and soup at him after the match, accused Wenger of confronting him with hands raised and said the Frenchman's failure to apologise for the behaviour of his players after the match was a "disgrace".

Wenger retorted by calling for Ferguson to be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

"Ferguson is out of order. He has lost all sense of reality," Wenger told French television station TPS in an interview.

"He is going out looking for a confrontation, then asking the person he is confronting to apologise.

"He's pushed the cork in a bit far this time and lost a lot of credibility by saying what he said."

Wenger also added his voice to that of Mourinho in suggesting that Ferguson tried to influence referees.

"We need video replays," he said. "United would be mid-table if officials had the benefit of them."

Adding a potential large dose of spice to the mix is the appointment of Graham Poll, regarded by some as England's best referee and others as controversial, to take charge of the February 1 Highbury game.



Australian Open: Li Na beat Shinobu Asagoe
Tennis star: Maria Sharapova
Real, Valladolid come to goaless draw
 
  Today's Top News     Top Sports News
 

Space mission set: two to orbit in Shenzhou-VI

 

   
 

Hostage release sought: Iraqi VP

 

   
 

China, Canada sign energy agreements

 

   
 

FM spokesman: 'China a victim of terrorism'

 

   
 

Bush takes oath of office for second term

 

   
 

Online gambling sees 600 arrested

 

   
  Yao leads Shaq in NBA All-Star balloting
   
  Sun Jihai eyes new Man City contract
   
  Chelsea smile as rivals scrap
   
  Houston's McGrady sued over dog attack
   
  Roddick wins to advance at Australian Open
   
  LeBron is youngest to get triple-double
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 一区二区三区内射美女毛片| 亚洲一区二区观看播放| 老妇bbwbbw视频| 国产成人免费av片在线观看| 91麻豆国产级在线| 女人说疼男人就越往里| 中韩日产字幕2021| 日韩三级电影院| 在异世界迷宫开后迷宫无修改版动漫 | 国产精品www| 国产精品亚洲一区二区三区久久 | 人人妻人人做人人爽精品| 精品无人区麻豆乱码1区2区| 国产一级特黄高清免费下载| 黄色网址免费在线| 国产精品999| 18禁止看的免费污网站| 国产视频第二页| 99视频精品全部免费观看| 女仆胸大又放荡的h| 一本色道无码道dvd在线观看| 日本vs黑人hd| 久久亚洲精品无码VA大香大香| 日韩激情中文字幕一区二区| 亚洲av无码之日韩精品| 欧美办公室系列观看丝袜| 亚洲日韩一区精品射精| 正文农村老少伦小说| 亚洲精品国偷自产在线| 男人添女人下部高潮全视频| 免费少妇a级毛片| 精品久久久久久久中文字幕 | 色综合中文字幕| 国产免费av片在线观看播放| 高清国产一级毛片国语| 国产成人综合久久综合| 国产精品入口在线看麻豆| 国产码欧美日韩高清综合一区| 中文字幕中出在线| 国产福利在线观看一区二区| 2020年亚洲天天爽天天噜|