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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Jose Mourinho hit back at Arsene Wenger in furious attack on "disgraceful" Arsenal

Arsene Wenger's rivalry with Jose Mourinho remains one of the most deep-rooted, personal fall outs the Premier League has ever witnessed.

For years, the pair failed to see eye-to-eye and the most unlikeliest of situations would somehow produce some kind of mean-spirited quip or put down. Take Arsenal's memorable 5-4 win over Tottenham on this day 18 years ago.

A fixture contested between the two north London clubs that thrilled the neutral as nine goals flew in with the lead changing hands as the Gunners reclaimed top spot. Premier League greats like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Jermain Defoe all getting on the scoresheet, it was quite the contest.

Yet, Mourinho, who at the time was manager of Chelsea and had no direct affiliation with either Arsenal nor Spurs, thought he'd still use the victory as a chance to take a shot at Wenger and his side.

"Five-four is a hockey score, not a football score. In a three-against-three training match, if the score reaches 5-4 I send the players back to the dressing rooms as they are not defending properly.

"So to get a result like that in a game of 11 against 11 is disgraceful."

Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho never truly did see eye to eye ((Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Corbis via Getty Images))

HAVE YOUR SAY! Was Mourinho in the wrong for his comments? Comment below

Mourinho has long been famed for his defensive-first approach, which is in direct opposition to the kind of free-flowing, attacking football Wenger tried to implement in all of his Arsenal sides.

The Frenchman was well-documented in his belief that football should entertain and few could have any arguments over how entertaining the win at White Hart Lane was, regardless of Mourinho's assessment.

Therefore, it comes as little surprise to see that Wenger had little issue with the manner of the victory, despite describing it as "completely crazy".

"Games like these north London derbies are either 0-0 or completely crazy. You could say this one was definitely completely crazy," the then-Arsenal boss explained.

"I'm delighted we are back to winning ways and I think we showed great character because Spurs came back at us even when we were two goals ahead.

The lacklustre defending did not go unnoticed by the Frenchman, who added: "Our defenders are not as happy as our attackers, but we are happy to win. I enjoyed it, but there were certainly some uncomfortable moments."

Unfortunately for Wenger, it was Mourinho who would have the last laugh that season as his Chelsea side eventually leapfrogged the Gunners into first and secured their first ever Premier League title.

The Blues would go on to lift the trophy while recording the best defensive record in the process, with Mourinho's men conceding just 15 all season - a record that still stands to this day.

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