Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has apologised for his clash with Jose Mourinho - but claims he was provoked.

The two managers faced each other on Sunday as Chelsea beat the Gunners 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, but stole the headlines when they were involved in a spat after Gary Cahill was booked for a strong challenge on Alexis Sanchez.

Wenger had previously admitted to pushing his Chelsea counterpart, whilst claiming he had no regrets, but has now offered an apology for the incident despite insisting he was provoked into the reaction.

"We gave a little bit too much importance to this matter. I did not enter the Chelsea zone," he told Telefoot.

"I shouldn't have reacted like that. I regret every sign of violence and I apologize.

"Did Mourinho taunt me? It felt like that."

The 64-year-old has enjoyed a long-standing rivalry with Mourinho since his arrival in the Premier League in 2004 and faced further tension on his return last season when he branded him a "specialist in failure".

Mourinho refused to apologise for his comments made last season and, when asked about the fresh incident with the Arsenal manager, insisted the television pictures revealed all.

He told nairaland: "Wenger? I don't have words to explain what everybody saw on the [television] pictures."


Source: http://m.goal.com/x/en-gh/news/5177817