Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic’s violent conduct ban has been reduced from three games to two, but he will still miss Sunday’s League Cup final.
The Football Association’s independent regulatory commission partially upheld an appeal lodged by Chelsea on Tuesday.
Matic, 26, was sent off in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley after reacting to a high tackle from Ashley Barnes.
In a statement, Chelsea said they were “extremely disappointed and frustrated” that Matic must still serve a ban.
Matic will miss the League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley and next week’s league match at West Ham United, on Wednesday 4 March.
A statement on Chelsea’s website, published under the headline ‘Chelsea FC appalled with the FA’s decision on Matic’, said the board was unhappy that the commission decided against reducing the ban by the “maximum extent permitted under FA rules”.
The commission could have reduced the ban to one game, but could not overturn the red card.
The Chelsea statement added: “There has been universal condemnation of the reckless challenge made by Ashley Barnes on Matic and it is the club’s view that he has been unjustly punished with a two-match ban for his reaction to a career-threatening tackle.”
The Serbia midfielder pushed Barnes to the ground after the Clarets forward caught him on the shin.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho defended Matic’s reaction and described the tackle from Barnes as “criminal”, while Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer said the challenge was “horrific” and “dangerous”.
However, Burnley manager Sean Dyche said that while slow-motion replays made the incident look “ugly”, the challenge was merely a “coming together at an unusual angle”.
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