Diego Costa has been banned for three games after the FA’s independent regulatory commission found him guilty of violent conduct following his collision with Laurent Koscielny on Saturday. The Chelsea bad-boy missed Wednesday’s Capital One Cup tie against Walsall, followed by Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash at Newcastle and their home game with Southampton. Chelsea are furious with the decision and are angry with referee Mike Dean after he retrospectively claimed he would have sent off Costa for the 43rd-minute incident with Koscielny.
Arsenal defender Gabriel, who was due to serve a three-match ban, had his punishment rescinded after the Gunners provided video evidence to cast an element of doubt about the donkey kick at Costa. Gabriel has to answer a separate charge of improper conduct after refusing to leave the field of play, but he has until Thursday to respond to that charge.
Arsenal and Chelsea have both been charged with failing to control their players and are anticipating sizeable fines from the FA later this week.
