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Confirmed: Key Arsenal man will miss Chelsea showdown

By mac14 on May 23, 2017

The Football Association have confirmed this afternoon that Laurent Koscielny has been slapped with a three-match ban meaning he’ll miss the FA Cup final versus Chelsea.

Koscielny was sent off during the early stages of our 3-1 win over Everton on Sunday following a rash challenge on Enner Valencia in the 14th minute.

I’ve seen yellows given for similar tackles but referee Michael Oliver showed the French international a straight red card on a day when he made several questionable decisions against us.

Arsene Wenger claimed after the game that the dismissal was harsh and we decided to appeal the decision in the hope that the red card would be overturned and Koscielny would be free to play in the FA Cup final.

However, the FA have announced in a statement this afternoon that the appeal for wrongful dismissal has been rejected so Kos will serve a three-match ban with immediate effect.

An FA statement read:

“Laurent Koscielny will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect after a claim of wrongful dismissal was unsuccessful.

“The Arsenal defender was sent off for serious foul play during the game against Everton on Sunday [21 May 2017].”

“An Independent Regulatory Commission heard the case today [Tuesday 23 May 2017].”

Koscielny will now sit out Saturday’s showpiece event with Chelsea and while I do think the dismissal on Sunday was harsh, it was still a stupid tackle to make under the circumstances.

We HAD to win the game and Valencia was going nowhere down the wing so there was no need for our captain to go diving in like he did. Koscielny is a top class defender but he is prone to silly moments and that was his fifth red card in the Premier League.

Thankfully it looks like Shkodran Mustafi is going to be passed fit to return after missing the Everton game through illness so the German international is likely to replace Koscielny at the back.

Nacho Monreal could drop in to the back three as Gabriel is expected to be ruled out after suffering suspected knee ligament damage at the weekend while Rob Holding will keep his place.