Chelsea: Jose Mourinho not impressed with FA's decision to overturn Gabriel ban

Jose Mourinho believes the FA's decision to overturn Gabriel's red card will set a bad precedent for Premier League clubs, who will now consider retaliation as officially allowed. The Arsenal defender had his three-game ban overturned, but Diego Costa was charged retrospectively and will now miss the next two games in the league, having already served a one-game ban in the league cup.

Costa was found guilty by an independent committee in the FA for his involvement in the incident which got Gabriel sent off and got Arsenal down to 10 men in the first half. The Spaniard put his hands across Laurent Koscielny and grappled his face which was deemed violent conduct.

Gabriel had in turn stuck a leg up following the incident, which reviews revealed did not touch Costa, for which he was let off by the disciplinary committee. The Portuguese manager is, however, not convinced by the decision and has warned the FA about repercussions.

"I don't really want to speak about the subject but we learned something this week. Now we know that retaliation is officially allowed," Mourinho said, as quoted by the Guardian.

When asked if the incident was similar to when Nemanja Matic had his ban reduced to two games following his retaliation on a tackle by Ashley Burnes, Mourinho said that the two incidents were not similar as one threatened to break his leg while the Gabriel incident was an innocuous discussion. "The two situations were not the same," he continued. "You cannot compare a leg almost broken with a man-to-man discussion."

Mourinho also refused to comment on Costa's charge for which he will be suspended for three games, stating that any word from him will result in another ban for the manager. "I don't comment, if I reveal my true feelings a big suspension will be waiting for me," he said. "The team has already lost a big player, they don't need to lose their manager as well. I'm happy to remain calm and quiet."

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger revealed that the decisions going in Arsenal's favour has done little to alleviate his disappointment after losing three crucial points to a title rival. The Gunners are currently five points behind league leaders Manchester City and have dropped out of the top four following the loss.