Marc Cucurella has admitted to provoking a brawl late in Chelsea's comeback victory over West Ham, but insists there are no hard feelings with Adama Traore. The Blues trailed 2-0 at half-time before rallying to win 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The incident occurred in stoppage time when Cucurella and Traore, former Barcelona academy teammates, clashed. Traore threw Cucurella off the pitch after the ball went out of play, sparking a 22-man melee that resulted in West Ham's Jean-Clair Todibo being sent off.
Speaking on the 3Cat Fanzone show, Cucurella said: 'It was late in the game. We were barging into one another and I felt myself very close to him, and I thought, well, I'm going to stick my head in here to see if I can stir things up a bit. He grabbed me, threw me where he could, and a big brawl broke out.'
Traore, who joined West Ham on deadline day, called into the show to clear the air. 'He's a really good guy,' Traore said of Cucurella. 'It's nothing personal and there will never be. It all stays on the pitch, it was just the heat of the moment.'
Cucurella joked: 'Now I'm calm because there's a screen between us.' The Football Association has charged both clubs with failing to control their players during the altercation.
