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Chelsea and Tottenham produced plenty of drama in their 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Sunday but the best action arguably came from their two managers.
While the Blues and Spurs more than delivered on the pitch with Harry Kane equalising in the dying seconds, it was Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte that were at the centre of post-match conversations.
The two managers were in each other's face on the sidelines for much of the contest with both making a point to celebrate in front of the other when their team scored.
Tuchel ran down the sidelines when Reece James put Chelsea ahead late on but Conte would have the last laugh courtesy of Kane's header at the death.
Frustrations inevitably boiled after the full-time whistle as both managers were shown red cards after an incident that will go down in Premier League folklore.
As is customary after a match, both Conte and Tuchel went to shake hands at full-time but the exchange quickly turned into something else.
Neither seemed intent to let go of the other's hand with Conte turning around furiously to confront Tuchel.
Both managers squared off briefly and had to be separated by coaching staff and players before referee Anthony Taylor came over to show them red cards.
While the send offs meant little on Sunday, they will mean both won't be on the sidelines for their next matches.
TUCHEL VS CONTE: ROUND TWO!!! 🤬🤬 pic.twitter.com/XhWuOU4fwD— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)
A dramatic London derby produced on and off the pitch with Conte and Tuchel clearly desperate to claim bragging rights.
The two managers first really clashed after Tottenham made it 1-1 with Conte celebrating in the direction of Tuchel, who came over to confront the Spurs boss.
Tuchel then wildly celebrated Chelsea's next goal which only gave Conte more reason to go off when Tottenham equalised in the final minute.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel suggested he wasn't happy Conte didn't look at him when they shook hands but was quick to stress their was no bad blood between them.
"I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, he had a different opinion," Tuchel told Sky Sports.
"It's emotional, football. We don't need to heat it up. You have emotional coaches on the touchline and that's it.
"If we meet, we meet. If not, then not. Come on guys, it's between two competitors and nothing bad happened."
Just Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel flexing his muscles in his post-match press conference...😂💪 pic.twitter.com/SGHp9sRc8V— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)
Tuchel then added to BBC Sport: "There's no hard feelings [with Conte] - I feel like it was a fair tackle from him and a fair tackle from me.
"We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams and from my side there's absolutely no hard feelings.
"I'm surprised that we both got a red card for that."
Conte himself looked to dismiss the incident and wasn't drawn on Tuchel's comments regarding the handshake by reporters.
"In my opinion I think it's better to talk about the game," Conte told Sky Sports post-match.
"I don't want to comment because I think this isn't the most important thing and if there is a problem it's between me and him and not the others."
Despite those comments, Conte subsequently posted to his Instagram stories with a video of Tuchel celebrating Chelsea's second goal and a caption saying: "Lucky I didn't see you...making you trip over would have been well deserved..."
pic.twitter.com/e73HzcAWCB— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella)
These two managers had never previously faced off prior to 2022 but have now played each other four times in the space of eight months.
Tuchel has dominated their fixtures, winning their first three encounters before their dramatic 2-2 draw.
Prior to that match, Conte's sides had failed to score a single goal against Tuchel's teams.
Tottenham's come-from-behind draw therefore meant quite a lot for Conte, who will be hoping to finally beat Tuchel when their teams next clash.
Spurs are scheduled to host Chelsea next in the Premier League on February 25, 2023.
