London - Diego Costa will almost certainly miss Chelsea’s title showdown with Manchester City on Saturday after being charged with violent conduct for his stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can.
Costa’s case is being fast-tracked by the FA and he is expected to be banned for three games following the incident in Tuesday’s ill-tempered Capital One Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea forward, who has escaped punishment for a separate altercation with Martin Skrtel, has until 6pm on Thursday to respond to the charge. The FA’s disciplinary commission, which consists of a QC plus a former manager and a member of the FA council, will deliver its judgment on Friday. Even though Costa is entitled to provide a written submission and deny the charge, he has no right of appeal if found guilty, which is likely considering video footage of the incident.
It means Chelsea are braced for an immediate three-match ban that will include the clash with City at Stamford Bridge, along with Premier League games against Aston Villa and Everton.
Manager Jose Mourinho maintained that the fiery forward, who has scored 17 times since his £32million move from Atletico Madrid, was innocent after Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool.
But the FA asked referee Michael Oliver if he had seen the 12th-minute incident between Costa and Can before reviewing video footage. Despite Chelsea’s five-point lead over Manuel Pellegrini’s City, the loss of Costa will be felt and Mourinho must turn to Didier Drogba or Loic Remy.
On Wednesday night Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard defended Costa’s bruising approach to the game. He said: “You can see in every action, every ball, he gives his life. Even if he didn’t score he gave his life. Every team and every player knows him now.”
Chelsea are also sweating on the fitness of Cesc Fabregas, who suffered a hamstring injury when challenged by Lucas Leiva and then collided with John Terry.
Mourinho has escaped punishment after a confrontation with Oliver as the teams walked down the tunnel at half-time. Mourinho believed there should have been a penalty when Skrtel clipped Costa in the first half. On Wednesday the FA, who have fined Mourinho £25 000 for claiming there is a “campaign” against Chelsea, confirmed they will take no further action. After the extra-time win over Liverpool, Mourinho also accused Sportsmail columnist Jamie Redknapp of a vendetta. Sky Sports analysts Thierry Henry and Redknapp agreed that Costa should have been sent off for the incident with Can. Mourinho said: “Maybe you are influenced by the campaign on television with certain pundits saying Costa has committed a crime - the guy who says that must be nuts. Sky calls it a crime, but he goes to the ball, the opponent goes to the floor and he puts his foot there when he is looking at the ball. It is a great campaign. We know how much that pundit loves Chelsea.
“So he is sitting there, you are very well paid and you are a manager putting their a** on the bench and these guys have a good seat, earning a lot of money, no pressure.
“They are never wrong, they have to be fair and they have to be honest.”
Costa was also involved in a tussle with Steven Gerrard, but that case is closed because Oliver booked them.
The FA are looking at one more incident. Skrtel is alleged to have made hand gestures towards Chelsea fans at the final whistle but the FA cannot rely on still images to charge him with misconduct so are scouring video footage.
Oliver will escape censure from the PGMOL after his bizarre handshake with Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic after the defender was booked for tugging Raheem Sterling’s shirt.
There was bad news ahead of Saturday’s game for City, too. The Ivory Coast beat Cameroon 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday and qualified for the next round. That means City’s Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony will not be back.
Daily Mail