'Mikel Arteta was struck by bottle moments after I demanded respect from dressing room'

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s demand for respect from rivals Manchester City in 2017 resulted in current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta being struck by a water bottle. On December 10, Pep Guardiola’s City, who had won 13 consecutive top-flight matches, travelled to Old Trafford to face title-challenging rivals United, managed by Mourinho.

With Arteta still an assistant under the Spaniard, City scored first on 43 minutes but were pegged back right away by Marcus Rashford in first-half stoppage time. Nicolas Otamendi scored a rebound after 54 minutes, and the blue half of Manchester held on for victory, opening up an 11-point gap at the top.

A 79th-minute penalty claim was the talk of the post-match, and as both sides made their way to the dressing rooms, one more frustrated than the other, tensions escalated, and a bottle was thrown.

As Mourinho recollected his shellshocked players, City’s celebrations sounded loud, prompting the Portuguese coach to enter the domain of the rival Cityzens, allegedly demanding they, “Show more respect.”

This provoked an inflamed response from the enraged Man City cohort, who supposedly sprayed water in the manager’s direction and threw a carton of milk at one of his members of staff.

The fracas following saw Mourinho further demanding respect, reportedly clashing with City goalkeeper Ederson as tensions soared, during which Arteta sustained a head injury from a water bottle – thrown in an incident where Romelu Lukaku was implicated but not proven to be involved.

Post-match, both managers reflected on the events, Guardiola expressing regret for any offence caused: “What happened in the locker room happened. Hopefully, it is never going to happen again.

“If we were not correct then I apologise to Manchester United. But, our intention was not that – it was to celebrate inside the locker room, and if people cannot understand that, I’m sorry, we won a derby.

“Sometimes United have made a lot of celebrations in the past over City. All I can say is that it was a game on a nice stage and a nice stadium. The players were in the game, everybody fight to win the game.

“After the game the players shook hands, no problems at all. Some players went to celebrate with the fans like normal. I encouraged the players to celebrate the result. I am the guy who encouraged them to celebrate in the moment.

“When United win they celebrate, when Arsenal win against United they celebrate, when Arsenal win the FA Cup last season they celebrate… But where? Inside the dressing room. People have to understand that we were happy. I think all the teams around the world when they win a derby, they are so happy.”

Mourinho fired back at comments comparing Manchester United’s celebrations to those of their rivals: “The only thing I can say is that, for me, it was a question of diversity. Diversity in behaviour, diversity in education… the diversity of behaviour, of opinion, of education.

“What we did in the Arsenal stadium, you know? It was completely diverse [to City’s conduct]. What we did, what happened after that match, the way we behaved as winners.”