So old habits do indeed die hard. Or at least that’s how it appears to be so with a particularly idiosyncratic manager, Jose Mourinho, immediately after his team’s 2-1 loss to Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. The Tottenham Hotspurs manager, visibly irate after his side’s loss, didn’t comply with the customary gesture of exchanging handshakes post-match with Frank Lampard. Mourinho had been seen slumped in his seat for much of the match that was going Chelsea’s way and when the full-time whistle went, even wild horses couldn’t have been faster beating the Spurs boss down the tunnel to the changing rooms.
Although the footage is inconclusive, this wouldn’t be the first time Mourinho is known to have gone into a tantrum and behaved ungraciously after his team’s loss. Back in 2016 at a return to Stamford Bridge because of then Chelsea manager Conte’s celebrations, Mourinho, feeling ‘humiliated’ after Chelsea dumped his Manchester United side 4-0, had refused to shake shands after the match.
Frank Lampard has faced Jose Mourinho three times in his managerial career and he’s now won three times with this latest win being crucial. Chelsea had gone into the clash against Spurs having not won their previous four league games which meant Jose Mourinho’s side had crept to within one point of them. However with this latest win the gap is now four points after goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso gave the Blues a much-needed decisive victory.
Lampard, obviously joyous with the victory celebrated both goals with unbounded enthusiasm. At one point in the match, he became very infuriated when Giovani Lo Celso escaped being given a red card for his stamp on Cesar Azpilicueta.
The social media was immediately abuzz with fans voicing their disapproval of Mourinho’s failure to shake Lampard’s hand at full-time, believing that he had done this on purpose to blank Lampard.