Banned Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso to miss FA Cup semi-final

Chelsea and Spanish defender Marcos Alonso has been hit with a ban hence will miss the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton.

Alonso will miss the FA Cup after being given a three-match suspension for violent conduct.
The 27-year old Chelsea wing back was charged by the Football Association (FA) after a challenge on Southampton’s Shane Long in Saturday’s 3-2 win against Saints.

Alonso had denied the charge claiming innocent and went further to say that such a suspension would be excessive.
An independent commission that was set up by the FA rejected his appeal during the commission’s hearing.

The Football authority took actions after match officials, including referee Mike Dean failed to see the incident where Alonso appeared to stand on the back of Long’s calf in the twilight of the first half at the St Mary’s Stadium.

With the decision taken, Alonso will miss Premier League fixtures against Burnley and Swansea.

“It was a poor challenge-it should have been a red card in my view,” said Southampton manager Mark Hughes.

“The disappointment was the officials didn’t see it. They were all within a 10 to 15 metre radius – one of them should have seen it.”

Against Burnley on Thursday, Chelsea will field Brazilian defender Emerson Palmieri who joined in the summer from Roma for an initial fee of £17.5m in January. Palmieri will make his first Premier League start for the Blues.

Alonso was named this week in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Premier League team of the year. He made the cut as the only player from Chelsea as a result of a scintillating display.