An FA statement yesterday said the Spanish worldwide striker was guilty of “violent conduct not seen by the match officials but caught on video”.
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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.
Costa’s ban is a huge blow for Chelsea, who have endured a poor start to their defence of their EPL title with three defeats in their first six matches.
The Spain global will miss Wednesday’s League Cup match with Walsall, plus Premier League games against Newcastle and Southampton.
Gabriel could face a one-match ban for his behaviour after being issued the red-card, where he delayed his exit from the field, which is likely to be served in this weekend’s crucial Premier League visit to unbeaten Leicester City.
Manager Mourinho insisted he did not want to talk about Costa’s ban while Chelsea wait to hear from the FA, but could not resist taking a swipe over Gabriel. “We will await their written reasons before commenting further”.
Ahead of the game he said: “I’m surprised at them because they are quite a big, strong team”.
Mourinho admitted that the team had lost one of their important players for three matches, adding that he prefers to stay calm for the sake of his team.
A club like Chelsea always have a top quality player ready to step up, and have a choice between Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy.
“The team talk was ‘we’re not here to try not to lose, we’re here to try and win.’ They make it very hard for you and they protect their back four very well, we gave it a go and we’re disappointed with the scoreline a little bit”.
I have to do it because when you play for Chelsea it’s a question of giving the best, 100 per cent in every game.
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The FA concluded their statement by announcing that both clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal have been charged for failure to control their players and have until Thursday September 24th at 6pm to respond and appeal the aforementioned charges.
