Mourinho fires back at Solskjaer after goalpost joke

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s goalpost jab appeared to have left Jose Mourinho rattled, with the Tottenham manager responding back in kind.

Solskjaer joked it was a good thing Mourinho hadn’t been around to measure the goalposts after Manchester United’s 3-2 win at Brighton on Saturday. They were lucky to escape with three points. Especially as the hosts hit the woodwork FIVE times during the match.

“You have to be happy Jose is not here to measure the goalposts!” Solskjaer told BT Sport.

Drama is following Solskjaer everywhere 😂

The Man Utd boss got a fright during his chat with @TheDesKelly after Brighton gave his team a fight on the pitch.

Some pluses, but work to be done for Man Utd. pic.twitter.com/Sul9cspWQN

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 26, 2020

The Red Devils boss referred to his predecessor inspecting the goalposts before Spurs’ Europa League clash against Shkendija last week and later requesting that they be set to the right dimension.

Those comments appeared to irk Mourinho, who responded by joking Solskjaer would like a 22-yard penalty box in reference to United’s reliance on penalties.

Quizzed on whether he’d measured the goalposts before Spurs’ 1-1 draw against Newcastle on Sunday, Mourinho told Sky Sports: “No, because I know the goalposts are fine.

“I think Ole yesterday was so happy and surprised with what happened to his team that he had a joke.

“But I understand for him the dimensions of the goalposts are not important. For him, what is important, is the dimensions of the 18-yard box.

“He would never accept to play with a 17-yard box, I think he would prefer a 22-yard box! For him, it would be better.”

🗣 "For him, the dimensions of the goalposts are not important, for him what is important is the dimensions of the 18-yard box, he would prefer a 22-yard box”⁰

Jose Mourinho makes a dig at Ole after his joke about measuring the goalposts 👀 pic.twitter.com/1SVPHI1qZY

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 27, 2020

It was a penalty that led to United’s victory on Saturday, with Bruno Fernandes scoring in the 10th-minute of stoppage-time.

Mourinho even aimed a dig at his fellow Portuguese’s spot-kick abilities by noting how many penalties were awarded to United in games back in July. He’ll be back at Old Trafford on October 4 for a Premier League match.

Of course, Jose wasn’t in the best mood on Sunday after a VAR intervention enabled Callum Wilson an injury-time penalty to hold Spurs to a 1-1 draw.