The FA charges Chelsea forward Diego Costa with violent conduct

The FA on Wednesday moved quickly to charge Chelsea forward Diego Costa for an early stamp on Liverpool's Emre Can during the second leg of the League Cup semifinal. Here's the FA statement, in full:

Diego Costa has been charged by The FA for violent conduct following an on-field incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.

The charge is in relation to an incident involving the Chelsea forward and Liverpool’s Emre Can which occurred in the 12th minute of the League Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge last night [Tuesday 27 January 2015].

The player has until 6pm on Thursday 29 January 2015 to respond to the charge.

Following a review of an incident during the game involving Costa and Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, The FA will not be taking any further action.

It's nice to see that the FA confirmed that the charges were only in relation to the Can incident, as trying to prove intent during the second half clash with two players moving at full speed would be ludicrous at best. Still, it's sort of laughable that neither the referee or fourth official claimed to have seen the initial incident, as both were almost on top of it and appeared to be looking directly at it.

Given the early deadline for Chelsea and Costa to respond, it seems likely that any appeal will be heard before Saturday's massive clash with Manchester City. Not good...