Southampton manager Mark Hughes has welcomed the Football Association’s decision to charge Marcos Alonso for violent conduct, following his late tackle on Shane Long.
The Spaniard initially escaped punishment from match referee Mike Dean, who allegedly failed to see the challenge on the Southampton forward, in a game where the Blues fought back from two goals down to win 3-2 at St. Mary’s.
The Independent reported that Saints boss Mark Hughes was disappointed with the standard of top-flight referees, but he is now pleased the FA have taken action.
He said:
It has been looked at again and I think there is a quick turnaround on these things, so we should hear if there is a suspension put in place. I think it was the right call.
Hughes felt that the circumstances of the game would have been different if the officials had dealt with the incident.
Clearly it was a poor challenge and should have been seen by the officials. The fourth official, assistant referee and the referee were all pretty close to it. The decision in my view would have been the boy would have been sent off and the circumstances of the game would have been different.
Alonso has been given until 18:00 BST on Wednesday to appeal the decision.
If the decision is upheld, the Spaniard will miss Chelsea’s next three games including Thursday night’s trip to Burnley and Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final meeting with Southampton.
