Mourinho escapes punishment for kicking water bottle

Joe Williams

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has escaped punishment from the Football Association after kicking a water bottle at Crystal Palace.

The Old Trafford manager sent the bottle into the stands during United’s thrilling 3-2 comeback win at Crystal Palace on Monday.

Press Association Sport understands the FA is satisfied the issue was handled at the time by the officials.

United were 2-0 down to the Eagles before hitting back and winning the game thanks to Nemanja Matic’s injury-time strike.

Before that Mourinho took his frustrations out on a water bottle and it landed in the crowd behind the dugout, although he immediately apologised to the Palace fans.

Mourinho was fined £16,000 and served a one-match ban last season after was sent to the stands for kicking a bottle during a 1-1 draw with West Ham.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the Palace game Mourinho said: “It was empty. One thing is with a referee and another thing is the basic frustration with the game without any kind of aggressiveness and good fun with the people behind.

“Maybe they like me here because I keep saying this stadium and these fans are absolutely beautiful.”