Chelsea: FA confirm Diego Costa ruling after Arsenal clash, reveal length of ban

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The Football Association have confirmed that Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been banned for three matches after being found guilty of violent conduct.

The forward’s misdemeanour occurred during the Pensioners’ 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday. The match—the headline fixture of the weekend’s Premier League matches—was marred by spats and violent altercations.

Two Arsenal players—Santi Cazorla and Gabriel Paulista—were dismissed, although Costa was one of the game’s key protagonists, fostering a climate of animosity with a series of aggressive actions.

While Costa’s hostile acts were largely missed by the match officials, the FA have acted in hindsight and have opted to ban the Spain frontman for three games.

A statement on the football association’s official website confirmed the punishment to be faced by the forward: “An FA charge against Diego Costa for violent conduct not seen by the match officials but caught on video has been found proven following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.

“The Chelsea forward will, therefore, serve the standard penalty of a three-match suspension with immediate effect.

“The charge, which the player denied, was in relation to an incident involving Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny in the 43rd minute of the game on Saturday [19 September 2015].”

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Despite a bright start to life in English football, Costa is increasingly allowing his off-the-ball acts to define his character, rather than his goalscoring contributions.

The 26-year-old forward has bagged only one goal in six Premier League outings so far this term, but was booked in both the defeat to Everton and the victory over Arsenal. He also picked up a booking in Spain’s recent win over Macedonia, despite only featuring for an hour.

It was a similar story last term, as the attacker was booked eight times in only 26 Premier League outings, although his 20 goals rather mitigated his poor disciplinary record.

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