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Conte defends playing to Chelsea crowd: My players 'deserve this clap'

Reuters

Antonio Conte meant no disrespect, even if that's how Jose Mourinho interpreted his actions.

The Manchester United manager seemed upset with his Chelsea counterpart after the Italian attempted to hype up the Stamford Bridge crowd with his side already up 4-0 in Sunday's contest. Mourinho, known to enjoy a touchline celebration himself, reportedly deemed the exuberance to be disrespectful.

Related - Mourinho refuses to address Conte chat: Words 'were for him, not for you'

Conte, however, said he simply wanted his players to receive a proper ovation for their incredible showing.

"I was listening to the support of Manchester United, always supporting their team and I was asking my team to do a clap for my players. All the players deserve this clap," he was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"When there is a private conversation it is right to remain private, I have great respect for Jose, he is a great manager and he won a lot here."

No harm, no foul, it seems.

As for the the happenings on the pitch, the fiery Italian was overjoyed - not surprising, of course, given that his side scored in the opening 30 seconds and then proceeded to put its foot down on a beleaguered United outfit.

"A fantastic start. We scored the early goal but we continued to play good football, intensity and possession create many chances. Today we didn't concede which was important. It was a type of win that increases the confidence.

"We wanted to show our ambition and give the satisfaction to our fans and show last season was very bad."

Mission accomplished.

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