The Brazilian legend Pelé gave an interview to AFP about the furore sparked by Diego Costa's run-ins with Gabriel and Laurent Koscielny in the weeked game against Arsenal.
Before learning of Costa's punishment (he has been slapped with a three-game ban), Pelé was sympathetic towards the Chelsea striker: "Listen, this to me was so common. I suffered all my life with good marking."
"He's a very good player, everybody knows. This was one moment. The striker who bit someone, Luis Suárez, was worse than this."
The Chelsea striker will serve a three match ban. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had this to say about the situation.
'The team has lost an important player for three matches and don't need to lose their manager. So I prefer to keep calm and quiet. If I bring examples and go deep and bring feelings into the discussion a big suspension will be waiting and I don't want that. The team doesn't need that.'
As for the decision to wipe out Gabriel's red card, he added: 'We know something which is that retaliation is allowed now. You can do it.'
He rejected the idea that it compared to Nemanja Matic who had a three-match ban reduced to two after retaliation on Ashley Barnes last season, in a game against Burnley.
He responded to that by saying:
'You cannot compare a leg almost broken with mens' discussion,' .
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