Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has apologised to Brentford after his assistant, Jesus Perez, was sent off following a confrontation with their coaching staff during his side’s Premier League 2-0 home defeat on Saturday.
Chelsea have been overtaken in the Premier League table by their west London neighbours, slipping down to 11th position after losing at Stamford Bridge for the third time this season.
Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbuemo scored for the visitors against Chelsea.
During the encounter, Perez was sent off by referee Simon Hooper after he clashed with Brentford’s coaching staff in the second half.
However, Pochettino has now apologised on behalf of his long-serving assistant, saying he was simply trying to get the ball back quickly from in front of Brentford’s dugout so Chelsea could restart the match in their search for an equaliser that never came.
Perez usually joins Pochettino at his press conferences to provide translation assistance but was not present after the match, with the Argentine saying: “Yeah, because in the rules he cannot go to the [other team’s technical area]. We apologise to Brentford and apologise to the referee because he wanted to take the ball in front of Brentford. Nothing more than this.”