Diego Costa has, today, been charged over his ‘stamp’ on Liverpool’s Emre Can, following last night’s Capital One Cup tie at Stamford Bridge.
The incident occurred early on in the first half, and was deemed to have been missed by all of last night’s four officials. Michael Oliver, Sky Sports claim, spoke to the FA and stated if he had seen the incident he would have sent the Chelsea striker off.
Costa will now face a three-match ban if Chelsea choose to appeal and have it rejected – subsequently amounting to a four-game ban.
The forward will now miss Saturday’s huge fixture against Manchester City at the Bridge, and following games versus Aston Villa and Everton, the latter of which he netted two against early on in the season.
Costa’s second ‘stamp’ was deemed accidental, and the 26 year-old has until 6pm on Thursday to appeal or accept the charge.
Additionally, in an FA heavy day for the Blues, Jose Mourinho has been fined 25,000 for comments made after Chelsea’s clash with Southampton in December.
The fine comes after Mourinho’s ‘campaign’ comments, particularly following a penalty appeal involving Cesc Fabregas – the Spaniard was booked for diving, but replays showed clear contact in the area.
“I think it is a scandal because it is not a small penalty – it is a penalty like Big Ben.” said Mourinho after the 1-1 draw.
“The comments were a breach of FA Rule E3 in that they were improper and brought the game into disrepute.”
