Diego Costa: Chelsea striker to avoid punishment after clash with Liverpool's Martin Skrtel

Tom Sheen
Monday 02 November 2015 11:28 GMT
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(BT Sport)

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Chelsea striker Diego Costa will not face any retrospective action from the Football Association after appearing to kick out at Martin Skrtel during the defeat to Liverpool.

Referee Mark Clattenburg was close to the incident when it happened and dealt with it immediately after the pair tangled following a heavy Costa foul at the halfway line.

Costa, 27, appeared to kick his heel into Skrtel's ribs, but the fact that Clattenburg was on hand, saw the incident and spoke to the striker after means that video action cannot be used by the FA to punish him.

The FA's disciplinary panel are also said to be satisfied that there was no malice in the incident - although the pair have history after clashing in the Capital One Cup last season, while Costa was unhappy when Skrtel pushed his forearm into his face as the ball ran out of play in the first half of the match on Saturday.

Costa has twice been punished by the FA retrospectively, in that Capital One Cup game earlier this year when he was judged to have stood on Emre Can and earlier this season for his part in the clash with Arsenal centre-backs Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny; he was banned for three games on both occasions.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was furious with referee Clattenburg and fourth official Lee Mason during the course of Saturday's 3-1 defeat.

Despite not explicitly speaking about either, Mourinho fired a thinly-veiled attack at Clattenburg for failing to send off Lucas, while he could be heard questioning Mason during the match after Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp remonstrated with the fourth official.

Mourinho asked if he could get away with speaking to Mason in the manner that Klopp had.

The Portuguese should also find out on Monday if his appeal against a £50,000 fine and one-match stadium ban has been successful.

He had suggested that referees were "afraid" to give his team decisions after Radamel Falcao was denied a penalty during the defeat to Southampton on 3 October.

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