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Battle of the Bridge 2: Coaches clash as Chelsea, Spurs draw

Call it the Battle of the Bridge, Part 2. This time, Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were the main protagonists in the latest feisty match between Chelsea and Tottenham that ended in a 2-2 draw because of a goal deep into stoppage time from Harry Kane.

That ended up being an afterthought, though, following the explosive end to the game at Stamford Bridge, just like there was in 2016 when Tottenham's title challenge ended with a 2-2 draw against Chelsea and both sets of players and coaches clashed repeatedly on and off the field.

Six years on, it was the managers in the spotlight. As Tuchel and Conte shook hands on the field after the final whistle, Tuchel seemed to not let go of his grip and intimated that Conte look him in the eyes. They squared up and shouted in each others' faces, before players and coaches from both teams piled in and pushing and shoving ensued.

Tuchel and Conte were then shown straight red cards.

They had clashed during the match, too, when Conte celebrated Tottenham's first equalizer by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the 68th minute. He went up to Tuchel and barged into his chest, sparking a melee among the coaching staff and substitutes as Tuchel pointed to Conte and told him to stay in his part of the technical area.

Then, after Reece James put Chelsea back in front in the 77th, Tuchel set off on a sprint past Conte and down the touchline, clenching his fist in delight.

"I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, but Antonio had a different opinion," Tuchel said of the post-match clash with Conte.

"He was happy when they equalized and it got a bit heated, but nothing big ... I think it was not necessary but a lot of things were not necessary."

As for Conte, he didn't want to talk about the confrontations that took place during and after the match despite being asked repeatedly in his post-game interviews.

Kane's goal, a glancing header from a corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time, ended Chelsea's run of five straight wins over Tottenham in all competitions.

Conte deserves credit for the way his second-half substitutions changed the flow of a game that Chelsea dominated until that point.

Still, Tottenham might have been lucky with its first goal, which probably shouldn't have counted since there was a foul on Chelsea forward Kai Havertz by Rodrigo Bentancur that went unpunished before Spurs mounted their attack.

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella, who assisted on Kalidou Koulibaly's opener from a brilliant volley in the 19th minute, also appeared to have his long hair pulled at a corner before the one Kane scored from.

"We were absolutely brilliant," Tuchel said. "Only one side deserved to win and that was us. Both their goals cannot stand."

The result left both teams on four points from two games and with only Manchester City and Arsenal on a maximum six points.

It was a victory 23 years in the making for Nottingham Forest.

Playing its first home game in the Premier League since 1999, Forest somehow escaped with a 1-0 win over West Ham thanks to a fortunate goal by Taiwo Awoniyi, who saw a block from a defender strike his leg and ricochet into the net.

Forest rode its luck at the other end, with Declan Rice having a 65th-minute penalty saved by onloan goalkeeper Dean Henderson and both Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma hitting the underside of the crossbar with long-range shots. Benrahma also had a goal ruled out after video review late in the first half.

While West Ham has now opened with back-to-back losses, Forest is off the mark after starting with a 2-0 loss at Newcastle last weekend.

VAR denies Mané but not Bayern in 2-0 win over Wolfsburg

Sadio Mané had two goals ruled out through VAR but Bayern Munich still managed to beat Wolfsburg 2-0 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Mané thought he'd opened the scoring in the 19th minute and his celebrations were cut short again in the 75th after another lengthy VAR review.

Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller's first-half goals were enough to maintain Bayern's winning start and frustrate former coach Niko Kovac on his return to Munich. Kovac, who led Bayern to a league and cup double in 2019, took over Wolfsburg in the offseason.

Kovac was fortunate his new team only lost by two goals on Sunday.

Benjamin Pavard struck the crossbar and Mané's goal was ruled out before Musiala finally made Bayern's dominance pay in the 33rd minute. The 19-year-old Germany forward eluded two defenders before steadying himself to dispatch the ball inside the left post.

"We're playing good football. It's fun to be part of it," said Musiala, who took his tally to three goals in two Bundesliga games.

Müller made it 2-0 in the 43rd when he deflected Joshua Kimmich's effort past the helpless Koen Casteels in the Wolfsburg goal. Alphonso Davies had done well to race down the left before pulling it back for Kimmich.

Casteels did brilliantly to keep out a deflected effort from Leroy Sané early in the second half, before Bayern had two more goals — including Mané's — ruled out for offside.

Bayern, the 10-time defending champion, started the season with a 6-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend.

Earlier Sunday, Mainz and Union Berlin canceled each other out in a 0-0 draw in Mainz. Both teams stayed unbeaten after winning their opening games.

"It was definitely not too pretty to look at," Union coach Urs Fischer said. "But from my point of view I'm satisfied. We're happy to take the point home."

Valencia wins in Gattuso's debut; Kubo scores for Sociedad

Gennaro Gattuso debuted as Valencia coach with a 1-0 win against promoted Girona in a

Spanish league match in which his team played a man down during most of the second half on Sunday.

Carlos Soler converted a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time, then the hosts held on despite Eray Comert's sending off with a straight red card shortly after halftime at Mestalla Stadium.

Gattuso took over from José Bordalás, who was fired despite leading Valencia to the Copa del Rey final in his single season in charge. Valencia finished ninth in the league last season and club owner Peter Lim, a Singaporean businessman, remains under attack by fans over his policies. The club removed president Anil Murthy from his post in May following the leak of private conversations that made the club's leadership look bad.

Girona, back in the first division after a three-year absence, struggled despite the man advantage and finished with only one attempt on target.

Takefusa Kubo made the most of his debut with Real Sociedad, scoring the team's 1-0 win at Cádiz.

The 21-year-old Japanese attacking midfielder is playing yet another season on loan from Real Madrid after stints with Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe.

Kubo picked up a nice pass by Mikel Merino behind the Cádiz defender and scored with a shot from inside the area in the 24th minute.

Sociedad, which finished sixth in the league last season, was in control during most of the match at the Nuevo Mirandilla Stadium. It only failed to get a bigger win because of a solid performance by Cádiz goalkeeper Jeremías Ledesma.

Cádiz barely avoided demotion last season, finishing just above the relegation zone.

Sociedad hosts Barcelona next Sunday, while Cádiz visits Osasuna on Saturday.

Defending champion Real Madrid debuts at promoted Almería later Sunday.

Sport

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2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

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