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Diego Costa charged by FA with violent conduct; Chelsea, Arsenal also charged

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association after some contentious incidents in last weekend's game against Arsenal.

Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista was also charged with improper conduct, and both clubs were charged with failing to control their players during Saturday's Premier League match.

Costa, 26, has been criticised after his performance in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The Spain international clashed with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel in the first half.

Costa appeared to start the incident by twice raking his hands across Koscielny's face and then chest-bumping him to the ground.

Gabriel then came over to defend his teammate, and he and Costa both received yellow cards following their confrontation. But a minute later the Arsenal centre-back was sent off for flicking a boot at the Chelsea player.

Costa was allowed to continue playing, but he now faces a suspension after the FA's ruling.

A statement on the FA's official website read on Monday: "Diego Costa has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.

"The Chelsea forward was involved in an incident with Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny in the 43rd minute of the game. He has until 18.00 BST tomorrow [Tuesday Sept. 22] to reply.

"Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees.

"Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence. For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision by the panel must be unanimous.

"Arsenal defender Gabriel has been charged with improper conduct for his behaviour following his dismissal, whilst teammate Santi Cazorla has been warned for his behaviour following his sending off.

"Finally, both clubs have been charged for failing to control their players under FA Rule E20. Both clubs and Gabriel have until 18.00 BST on Thursday to reply."

Cazorla was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards in separate incidents.

Arsenal said they would appeal for both wrongful dismissal in relation to Gabriel and the length of his ban.

A statement read: "The club can confirm that it is appealing wrongful dismissal and the three-match ban given to Gabriel."

Speaking after the defeat, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Costa should have been sent off twice.

"Costa twice should be sent off," Wenger told the BBC. "He hits him [Koscielny] in the face in purpose. In every game he has aggravation and he gets away with it because of the weakness of the referee."

In February, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was left seething when Costa was retrospectively sanctioned for treading on Liverpool's Emre Can, part of what the Chelsea boss perceived as a "campaign" against his side which included a Sky Sports montage entitled "Costa's Crimes."

Costa's teammate Kurt Zouma initially told beIN Sports that the striker "likes to cheat," though he later clarified that he did not mean to insult his teammate.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.