Man City furious after Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas escapes punishment for Fernandinho slap

MANCHESTER CITY are furious that Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has escaped punishment for slapping Fernandinho.

Posted Tuesday, December 06, 2016 by Express.co.uk

Both clubs were hit with an FA charge yesterday for failing to control their players following the mass fracas in added time of the Saturday's game at the Etihad Stadium, which Chelsea won 3-1.

Manchester City had Sergio Aguero sent off for a wild lunge on David Luiz and Fernandinho was shown a straight red card for retaliating to the slap by Fabregas by grabbing him by the throat and pushing him over advertising hoadings.

Aguero, 28, received a four-match ban for what was his second dismissal for violent conduct this season while Fernandinho will serve a three-match ban.

Man City furious after Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas escapes punishment for Fernandinho slap
Manchester City are furious with the FA over not charging Cesc Fabregas for slapping Fernandinho

City manager Pep Guardiola said: "It's a pity what happened in the last minute and of course we are going to accept the bans from the FA [for Aguero and Fernandinho] and we are going to work with other players for the next games."

Both clubs have until 6pm on Thursday to respond to the charge. If found guilty, they be heavily fined with Chelsea likely to be hit with the bigger punishment after being found guilty of 'failing to control' their players on several occasions recently.

In May the club were fined a record £290,000 after a similar bust up in the game against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge - the fifth time they had been charged with the same offence since 2014.

City have had six red cards already this season and goalkeeper Willy Cabellero admits the absence of leading scorer Aguero - who has already served a three-game ban for elbowing Winston Reid - is a huge blow.

Man City furious after Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas escapes punishment for Fernandinho slap
Fernandinho was sent off for grabbing Cesc Fabregas by the throat at the Etihad Stadium

Man City furious after Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas escapes punishment for Fernandinho slap
Sergio Aguero will serve a four-match ban for his horror tackle on David Luiz

"Now he's suspended so it's a shame for us as we're going to lose a great player for a lot of matches. It's important to look forward and to be able to play without Kun. It's no time to talk about Sergio, about the tackle or anything like that. We have to turn the page and focus on the next game and forget about what happened in the last game."

Guardiola has been beset by disciplinary and defensive problems but insists his team are still on course for glory this season.

"I'm happy and satisfied," he said. "After the games at Crystal Palace and Burnley I was a little bit worried. I thought if we play like this, we are not going to go anywhere.

"But the performance on Saturday was much better than the last two games away when we won. When I was at home an hour after the Chelsea game, I thought to myself 'this season is going to be good'."