Following the dreadful brawl that marred the closing stages of Chelsea’s 3-1 triumph over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. No surprise that both the clubs were punished with charges after failing to control their players. The match had a fair amount of tenacity and tempo yet nearing the final whistle, it turned into rage as no players were pegged on the pitch as a fiery conflict camped at the dugout.
Yet the blue half of Manchester paid the bigger price as Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho are chained up with bans. The former will be out for four matches due to an embargo earlier in August after picking up a retrospective red card for elbowing West Ham’s Winston Reid. This time, his rash challenge on David Luiz in the stoppage time was impossible to be overlooked as it was the moment that sparked the pressure-cooker atmosphere in a blink of an eye. While the Brazilian will return one match before the Argentinian.
The Blues, on the other hand, will be pleased to hear that Cesc Fabregas will not be serving any ban following his confrontation with Fernandinho. The review footage revealed that the former Barcelona man accelerated the heaty moment as he slapped Fernandinho before the Brazilian midfielder grabbed his neck several times and tumbled him over an advertising board. If a ban was handed to Fabregas, it could have been a real kick in the teeth as the Spaniard returned to the team after 8 matches following an injury to Nemanja Matic and earned merits with his influential performance.
A statement from the FA read (via Mirror): “Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas will not face any further action in relation to an incident involving City’s Fernandinho.”
The exclusion of Fabregas from the ban would further frustrate John Stones. The centre-back was rather unhappy after the match, as he mentioned that punishments were not balanced. Regarding the general charges, both clubs will have until 6pm on Thursday to respond.
Besides the controversial slap and sublime assist to Diego Costa for Chelsea’s opener, Fabregas was also involved in another incident when his former boss Pep Guardiola ignored him after the game.
Pep Guardiola completely ignored César Azpilicueta & Cesc Fàbregas who had approached him to shake hands after the match. Classy. #MCFC #CFC pic.twitter.com/B1fv8MOvkU
— Chelsea GIFs (@ChelseaGIFs) December 3, 2016
When asked about it at a press conference regarding Tuesday’s Champions League encounter with Celtic, Guardiola mentioned that he did greet Fabregas in the dressing room yet did not realise he was on the pitch.
“I said hello to Cesc in the dressing room. On the field I didn’t realise he was trying to greet me,” said the former Barcelona manager when asked whether he purposefully ignored Fabregas’ handshake.
He wasn’t interested in entertaining any remarks that his team is under a discipline problem too. In total, his players have collected half a dozen red cards this season. The frustrations from the losing side are understandable yet the ugly reactions that followed is clearly a hindrance than a help to Pep Guardiola as he will need to field a team without his two regular starters, especially against title rivals Arsenal.
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