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Chelsea's Diego Costa banned for three games due to violent conduct

Diego Costa (R) clashed with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel last weekend
Diego Costa (R) clashed with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel last weekend

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been banned for three matches after being found guilty of violent conduct during Saturday's 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

Costa had denied a Football Association charge over the incident, not seen by referee Mike Dean, in which he appeared to raise his hands to Gunners defender Laurent Koscielny.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a move sure to further rile Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, Arsenal defender Gabriel won an appeal against his red card for confronting Costa after the initial incident.

The London club said in a statement that they were "extremely disappointed" with the ban, which will see Costa ruled out of Saturday's Premier League trip to Newcastle.

An FA statement read: "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]."

However, the FA announced in a separate statement that it had accepted Arsenal's challenge to the red card issued to Gabriel, and withdrawn his three-match ban with immediate effect.

Gabriel still faces a separate charge of improper conduct for his reaction after being shown the red card by referee Dean, and he has until 6pm on Thursday to respond to that second charge.

Both clubs still face an outstanding charge of failing to control their players.

Costa's antics on Saturday had provoked a furious response, initially from Wenger, who had indicated he had little faith in the appeals process.

Wenger said: "That (retrospective action) is the least they could do, but he (Costa) will do the same again next week and the week after and he always gets away with it."

Meanwhile, Chelsea team-mate Kurt Zouma unwittingly found himself at the centre of a storm after saying in a television interview that Costa "likes to cheat a lot".

Zouma later said on Twitter that he had not meant to accuse Costa of cheating, and the club issued a robust statement insisting Zouma's use of his second language had been misinterpreted.

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