Ian Wright and Danny Murphy defend Chelsea's Diego Costa over Vincent Kompany kick allegations
Ian Wright and Danny Murphy claimed the referee saw the incident
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Your support makes all the difference.Ian Wright and Danny Murphy have both come out in defence of Diego Costa amidst suggestions the Chelsea striker could face retrospective action after appearing to kick out at Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany.
Costa appeared take Kompany’s legs from underneath him when the pair came together following a challenge during the second half on Wednesday night, which the Blues won 2-1 to take a massive step towards the title.
Referee Mike Dean was right in front of it and saw the whole incident without taking any action while the Football Association will await his report before deciding whether to investigate, with any action likely to result in a suspension for Costa.
Antonio Conte claimed he did not see the incident at the time before saying it was “impossible to judge this kind of contact”.
And Murphy and Wright both agreed with Conte’s assessment that it would be harsh if Costa had disciplinary action taken against him, while praising Kompany’s reaction.
“It's a little bit stupid but I don't think there will be retrospective action,” Murphy said on Match of the Day.
“I thought he should have got a yellow for it. It was a bit of a gesture more than anything. What I do like about it is Kompany's reaction. He hasn't tried to stitch him [Costa] up.”
Wright added: “The referee's right there. How are you going to do retrospective when the referee's looking right at it. I think he's being a bit cute and a bit clever.
“I know what he's doing. I'm in Costa's head there. He's acting like I'm trying to put my feet back down but I'm going to give him a little clip on the way down. But like I say the referee's right there. He can't do him for that surely.”
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