Former Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat in action for Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce
Former Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat in action for Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce during the game against Athletic Bilbao
Former Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat was involved in a fiery altercation during Fenerbahce's 2-0 defeat against Athletic Club on Wednesday.
The Turkish side were dealt a fresh blow in their hopes of gaining automatic qualification for the Europa League last 16 after a brace from Inaki Williams gave the visitors the points in Istanbul. The win ensures Athletic move to the top of the new format, while Fenerbahce remain 15th on two wins from their six matches.
And frustrations boiled over toward the end of the game as Amrabat was involved in a squabble with opponent Oihan Sancet. Both players appeared to go head-to-head before they were separated by their teammates. Referee Irfan Peljto decided to give Amrabat and Sancet a yellow card each.
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Emotions started to calm down, only for Jose Mourinho to display his own sense of annoyance. The ex-United boss furiously stormed down the tunnel after the match as his side suffered their second successive defeat - a matter of days following their 1-0 loss to league rivals Besiktas.
Speaking after the game, Mourinho appeared to call down and gave a measured reaction. He said: "I think everyone who watched the game tonight knows what happened.
"We started the game very well. It was a similar game to the Manchester United game. We started very well. Our opponent had difficulties. Then we, I repeat here, we made mistakes. The situation changed.
"We continued to play well in the first half. The 1-0 result in the first half was an undeserved score. It suddenly became 2-0 with a shot. We were the better ones in the first half. After 2-0, things got harder. We made changes. But after that, when we were down to 10 men, the game was over for us."
Amrabat spent last season on loan at United and there was some talk that the Moroccan was all-but going to sign on a permanent deal, but the club decided against the move. He decided to join Fenerbahce in August and has since played 15 times for the Super Lig outfit.
As for Mourinho, he joined Fenerbahce in the summer after two-and-a-half years at Roma. The Portuguese hinted in October that he could be temped to return to the Premier League with a relegation threatened team and not in Europe, but he later retracted those comments.