Chelsea manager Antonio Conte apologises to match officials for sending off
Thursday 30 November 2017 13:58, UK
Antonio Conte says he has apologised to match officials for his behaviour after he was sent to the stands during Chelsea's 1-0 win against Swansea.
The Italian was given his marching orders by referee Neil Swarbrick after a number of remonstrations with fourth official Lee Mason on the touchline, with a protest about a Swansea goal kick the last straw at the end of the first half.
It is the first time Conte has been sent off as Chelsea manager, and admitted after the game that he had made a mistake in the heat of the moment.
"I saw that the opponent was wasting time and that is the reason I spoke a few times with the fourth official," he told Sky Sports.
"I didn't see that the situation change and I was frustrated with the fourth official. For this reason, I have to apologise to him and the referee. In that moment, I was angry but I know that is it right to apologise to them.
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"It is fair, I don't know, but I know that the referee took this decision and for this reason, we have to accept and respect his decision.
"It is not simple sometimes during the game, there is a lot of frustration but at the same time, I think that you can make a mistake and I did this.
"Our job is not simple. Our job is to stay on the touchline and to suffer with your players. You can't play and for this season, it is very difficult to sometimes keep calm."
It was Antonio Rudiger's first Premier League goal that sealed the victory for Chelsea in the 55th minute, and Conte described the performance - the second half of which he watched from his office - as a good win.
"The performance was positive because, in this type of game, it is very good to score early otherwise you must be prepared to suffer," he added.
"You must not lose your balance, you must not give away a counter-attack and in this case, we played a good game and created many chances to score. I think Swansea's goalkeeper was the best on the pitch. It was a good win.
"In this type of game, it is important to score another goal. You are more relaxed, but with only 1-0, we didn't suffer, but you have to pay attention until the end."
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