Diego Costa denies the biting allegations which emanated from his altercation with Everton's Gareth Barry during their FA Cup encounter yesterday.
Costa was handed a second yellow card as a result of their exchange which amounted to his first sending off since arriving at the club in the summer of 2014.
The Spaniard was previously slapped with a retrospective ban in September of 2015 following a clash with Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal in the Premier League. And one former Premier League referee believes, that, since the referee could not have seen the apparent biting attempts yesterday, another ban could be on the cards for him.
Diego Costa â¤ï¸ Gareth Barry pic.twitter.com/wOebQFja4B
— The Soccer Life (@TheSoccerLifee) March 13, 2016
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Howard Webb said:
''I've watched the incident back and I am pretty confident that [referee] Michael Oliver has shown Costa a second yellow card for adopting an aggressive attitude.
"There is no way Michael Oliver can see what happens then with the neck - if it is a bite or not. He couldn't see it anyway as he is looking at the other side of Gareth Barry.
"Two things I think will happen now. I think the FA will look at the footage so they can try and see if a bite has taken place.
Diego Costa spat at the ref's feet and got away with it. #FACup pic.twitter.com/LuURJfBaGf
— Fans Of Sport (@FansOfSport) March 12, 2016
"They will look for evidence, for Gareth Barry's reaction, for marks on the neck. They will then come to a judgement and that will go down as something unseen by Michael Oliver.''
"Secondly, I'll be amazed if Costa is not punished for his reaction after the second yellow card. He fails to leave the field of play, he is aggressive again to Michael Oliver and referees are always told to report that situation. That can lead to another match ban.''
"The only time you could be sent off for attempting to bite is if you make the action to bite and the other player pulls away.''
"But it looks like he has thought about it but not gone through with it. From what I've seen of the footage, it is not sufficient to support a charge for violent conduct retrospectively."
Speaking after the game, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink argued that Everton 'went after him,' while a spokesman from the club said Costa denies any involvement with biting offences.
''Diego spoke to club officials and expressed regret over his reaction to the challenge from Barry that led to his red card. But Diego was also very clear that he did not bite him at any point during that altercation."
Gareth Barry did not speak to media after the game but the Press Association Sport has reported that Barry supports Costa's position and denies any occurrence of biting.
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