According to numerous reports including the one from Telegraph, Football Association (FA) are on the verge of charging both Manchester City and Chelsea as both clubs failed to control their players in the closing stages of last weekend’s match at the Etihad Stadium.
The tight and tedious affair was a joy to watch, initially for the neutrals and then essentially for Chelsea fans after Eden Hazard turned the scoreline 3-1 in the death. In what looked like all dramas were done and dusted, a burst of brawl took place in the stoppage time and the world had to witness the other side of this beautiful game.
It all started when Sergio Aguero placed a rash and late tackle on David Luiz and both teammates reacted like the referee and cameras never existed. Of all the players, Diego Costa, who is habitually hyped for poor anger management, rushed towards the fighting podium and surprisingly acted as the peacemaker as he was directing Fernando and Fernandinho away from the dispute. The result of such bad-tempered reactions saw Aguero and Fernandinho being sent off just minutes before the last whistle.
Manchester City and Chelsea expect to be charged by FA after crazy Sergio Aguero is accused of sparking mass fracas https://t.co/d4mV9EVY9e
— しょーご (@chelsea_199714) December 5, 2016
Series of bans to individuals and fines to the clubs were fairly inevitable, looking at the moment of madness from the review footage. First of all, Aguero will be serving a four-match embargo at a minimum. Thus, he would miss matches against Leicester City, Watford, Arsenal and Hull City. The Argentinian striker had a three-match suspension earlier in August for a retrospective red card for bitterly elbowing West Ham’s Winston Reid. Looks like he never learnt a lesson.
Despite not widely remarked, Nathaniel Chalobah and Cesc Fabregas were initially feared to get into trouble, but have since then escaped punishments. They both were shown yellow cards but that doesn’t seem to be convincing after watching the highlight reel. The former was the quickest to react once David Luiz picked up that nasty tackle, and he pushed Aguero to the ground. Meanwhile, the Spaniard who appeared to be cool when Fernandinho grabbed his neck and shoved him over an advertising hoarding, was the one who provoked the Brazilian’s outburst as he slapped him on the cheek. Having returned to the manager’s first eleven and registering an assist earlier in the match, this sort of incident just turn things back to square if he is shackled with a ban too.
However, being fined by FA isn’t something new for the west London club. Back in May, Chelsea were punished £375,000 for not controlling their players against Spurs at Stamford Bridge, it was the fifth time the club in recent years had been found guilty of such issue. Perhaps heavier penalty on the cards.