Chelsea and Arsenal are still "at war" after Saturday's battle of Stamford Bridge and hostilities show no sign of abating after the Football Association charged Diego Costa with violent conduct and both clubs were accused of failing to control their players.
The Chelsea striker is in hot water after he was seen to have clawed the face of Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny during Saturday's game, which ended 2-0 to the Blues, while Arsenal had Gabriel and Santi Cazorla sent off.
The FA supplied video footage to a disciplinary panel made up of three former referees and the charges were laid after the panel ruled Costa's actions, missed by referee Mike Dean, warranted an instant red card.
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But that is not the end of it. The FA has also charged Gabriel with improper conduct and both clubs must also answer accusations that they failed to control their players. Carzola, dismissed for two bookable offences, escaped with an FA warning.
Arsenal are to appeal against Gabriel's dismissal (and three-match ban), which happened after a confrontation with Costa, who according to reports "appeared to scratch" the Gunner. There was widespread condemnation of the Spanish forward after the match with Arsene Wenger describing Costa's behaviour as "disgraceful" and "disgusting".
Even one of Costa's Chelsea teammates, defender Kurt Zouma, joined in the condemantion. Asked by BeIN Sports if he was surprised by the Spaniard's behaviour, he responded: "No, we're not surprised because we know Diego. Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponent out of his game."
However, Chelsea have defended the 20-year-old French defender, insisting that it was unfair to take the words of a young player speaking in a foreign tongue minutes after a big game at face value.
Meanwhile, according to The Sun, Chelsea are "fuming that Arsenal are appealing" against the dismissal of Gabriel in the hope of getting the ban reduced to two matches.
A Chelsea source defended Costa to the paper, saying: "Costa gets a lot of stick on the pitch from the opposition. Cameras picked up the incident involving him and Gabriel but none of the other stuff that he has to put up with.”
Costa has until 6pm this evening to respond to the misconduct charge but if he accepts the rap then he will serve the mandatory three-match suspension, ruling him out of Chelsea's matches against Walsall, Newcastle and Southampton. If, however, he contests the charge an independent regulatory commission will sit in judgement.
