Costa to miss City game after losing appeal

London, January 30

Chelsea striker Diego Costa will miss his side's top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Manchester City after losing his appeal against a charge of violent conduct, the English Football Association said on Friday.

The Brazilian-born Spain striker has been banned for three matches after treading down on Liverpool's Emre Can in the first half of the League Cup semifinal, second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Chelsea, who are five points clear at the top of the table, will be without Costa for Saturday's clash against Manchester City as well as games at Aston Villa and home to Everton. Costa, who signed from Atletico Madrid last year, has scored 17 league goals for Chelsea with his combative approach ideally suited to the high tempo of English football.
But the 26-year-old's physicality has ruffled a few feathers and he is not one to back down from confrontation with opponents.
After Chelsea booked their place in the League Cup final thanks to a 2-1 aggregate victory over Liverpool, boss Jose Mourinho was adamant that Costa's reputation was being tarnished by TV pundits.
"I don't know what you understand by stamp. I think you are already influenced by -- there is a campaign by a certain pundit that talks about Diego Costa's crimes," Mourinho told reporters.
"What (broadcaster) Sky calls crime, it’s absolutely accidental. "When you are there and you are paid and you are very well paid — these guys they have a very good seat, they are always right and they always win but they should be honest."

Scholes supports Costa in stamp controversy
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes Friday supported Chelsea striker Diego Costa, who is involved in a 'stamp' controversy. In a column written for the Independent Scholes said he supports the Spanish striker as he believes he was under severe provocation from Liverpool defenders.
"As for Diego Costa, I see it differently to the rest. I thought his actions were at the lower end of the scale of dangerous and that he was under extreme provocation from Martin Skrtel, who has wound him up before this season," the 40-year-old former midfielder Scholes wrote. "My view of it was that Costa gets kicked a lot and actually his patience is to be admired in many, if not all, situations." The Football Association has, however, decided to charge the Chelsea striker for the first of two alleged stamps that he committed during the match.

Costa must change character: Pellegrini
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini wants banned Chelsea striker Diego Costa to change his character but he does not expect the Premier League leaders to miss their top scorer during the table-topping clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Having scored 17 Premier League goals for Jose Mourinho's side this season, Costa's absence will come as a huge blow for Chelsea when second-placed City arrive in London. "He has his character, it is not an easy character but I hope that this punishment will be a good thing for him to change in the future," Pellegrini told a news conference on Friday.
"Big teams and important squads cannot just rely on one player. It is a very important miss for both teams but they have other players to replace him." Champions City trail leaders Chelsea by five points after 22 matches but Pellegrini believes it will be too early to rule his side out of the title race whatever the result of the match.
"It's an important game, it's not the game that will decide the title because after that we have to play for 45 points," the Chilean said.
"It's not a final. Remember, City won the title in 2011-12 after being eight points behind Manchester United." Frank Lampard, who spent 13 years at Chelsea and scored over 200 goals for the club, grabbed a late equaliser for City in a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at the Etihad in September.