The April 8 suspension amnesty has now passed, meaning the bar has now been raised to 15 yellows before any further bans for cautions accrued kick in. Only one of the three players sitting on nine yellows prior to last weekend picked up a booking – Laurent Koscielny was the guilty party at the Emirates against City on Sunday, meaning the Arsenal centre-half will now sit out the next couple of Gameweeks.
Arsene Wenger will need to make do without Koscielny’s services for Wednesday’s trip to Wolves as well as next Monday’s home clash against Wigan, before the defender is available for selection for the Emirates showdown with Chelsea in Gameweek 35.
The Gunners man was hardly the headline-maker in the 1-0 win, though. That dubious honour went the way of Mario Balotelli and, according to reports, the City forward could, potentially, be facing a nine-game ban for his misdemeanours.
Having already been dismissed earlier this season, Balotelli will definitely be handed a three-match suspension for his sending off, while he may also incur the FA’s wrath for the first-half studs-up lunge on Alex Song. If referee Martin Atkinson reports that neither he nor his assistants had a view on the latter incident, the FA may also charge Balotelli with violent conduct – that would bring a three-match ban, plus three more matches for his previous dismissals would bring the tally to nine.
Branislav Ivanovic could also be heading for trouble after his off-the-ball punch on Wigan’s Shaun Maloney. The incident happened in the build-up to Chelsea’s late winner over the Latics but, as the referee Mike Jones missed the incident, the FA were not made aware of it in time, meaning Ivanovic was available for the trip to Fulham last night. The incident will now be reviewed, with the defender facing a possible three-match ban – he would miss the FA Cup Semi-Final against Spurs, in addition to league clashes with Arsenal and QPR, if found guilty.
Shaun Derry’s appeal over a straight red card received at Old Trafford on Sunday will be heard by the FA this afternoon – the midfielder is hoping his current one-match ban will be overturned, allowing him to be available for Wednesday’s match with Swansea.
Blackburn’s Anthony Modeste lasted just ten minutes of Blackburn’s defeat at West Brom last weekend. The Frenchman – on as a second half sub – was dismissed for violent conduct after lashing out at the Baggies’ Billy Jones and will now sit out the next three matches for Steve Kean’s strugglers.
As mentioned,the yellow card limit has now been extended from 10 to 15 cautions before players receive an automatic ban. No one managed this feat last term, though Cheick Tiote got within touching distance after picking up 14 cautions – this time round, Lee Cattermole is making a decent attempt, with the Sunderland skipper currently sitting on 12 yellows with five Gameweeks remaining. Cattermole seems the likeliest to achieve this, with Blackburn’s Jason Lowe hot on his heels with 11.
Gameweek 33 Bans
- Shaun Derry – 1 Red for Denying a Goalscoring Opportunity (One-match ban)
- Mario Balotelli – 1 Red for 2 Yellows (Three-match ban, having previously been dismissed this season)
- Laurent Koscielny – 1 Yellow took his haul to 10 bookings (Two-match ban)
- Anthony Modeste – 1 Red for Violent Conduct (Three-match ban)
- Jose Reina – serving second game of three-match ban.
- Djibril Cisse – serving third game of four-match ban.
