Willian has revealed that after the Ianni incident in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United, everyone calmed down while walking down the tunnel.
The Blues looked headed to a first defeat of the season when United forward Anthony Martial’s second half-brace nullified Antonio Rudiger’s first-half opener but Ross Barkley emerged with a dramatic equaliser in the sixth minute of injury time to salvage a point for Maurizio Sarri’s side.
Barkley’s goal sparked raucous celebrations from the Blues, including assistant coach Marco Ianni jumping and pumping his fist in front of the Red Devils’ bench that sparked angry reactions from Manchester United, with head coach and former Blues manager Jose Mourinho running after the second Chelsea assistant.
It took a while for referee Mike Dean to keep the whole situation in order but speaking after the melee, Willian says all went about on their best behaviour as they trudged along the tunnel after the match.
“When we scored the second goal there was a little bit of a discussion outside the pitch. Then after the game, everyone was quiet and friendly,” said the Chelsea ace. “We just went to the tunnel to talk and to say to Mourinho to keep calm and then the same was said to our staff as well, then it was calm.”
The Brazilian international went on to say that he felt Ianni never meant to offend Manchester United and claimed that the assistant coach’s manner of celebration was due to the match being a highly-charged affair.
“It [the game] is very emotional and the guy I am sure he doesn’t want to do something wrong, he doesn’t want to disrespect the team,” continued the 30-year-old winger. “He did that [celebration] because in the last minute we scored a goal and we needed this goal. He did this because he feel passion and that’s why.”
