Good news for the Chelsea fans. Diego Costa will not face any retrospective action from the Football Association for his clash with Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel during Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.
The Spain international appeared to have flicked his boot into Skrtel’s midriff in the second half after both the players fell on the ground following a side tackle from the Slovakian defender.
The referee, Mark Clattenburg was close to the incident and he felt no offence had taken place.
The FA’s disciplinary department is satisfied with the way the matter was handled at the time and they feel there was no malice in Costa’s challenge. Interestingly, Martin Skrtel or any other Liverpool player on the pitch did not make anything out of the incident, which implies the situation was well managed.
Costa was handed a three-match ban by the FA in January 2015, after television replay picked up on him appearing to stamp on Skrtel’s foot while the defender was on the ground during a Capital One Cup semi-final.
The Brazilian born striker was also handed a retrospective suspension by the FA after he was found guilty of misconduct in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Arsenal in September.
Chelsea are sitting uncomfortably 14th in the Premier League table following their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday. Costa has struggled badly this season, failing to reproduce his last season’s form, and has scored only two goals in the league so far.
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