FERNANDINHO escaped any punishment for appearing to aim his studs at Mason Mount’s FACE in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Manchester City midfielder was done by Mount’s sharp turn and knocked the England man to the ground with an outstretched arm.
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The 35-year-old then appeared to try and hurdle over Mount, only to catch his oppenent in the face with his dangling right boot.
Mount clearly seemed to believe the act was deliberate, and could be seen mouthing that he had been caught on the face.
However referee Mike Dean did not produce a card.
And, speaking at half-time, BBC pundits agreed with Dean’s decision.
Host Gary Lineker said: “There was an element of a stamp on Mount.
“It looks like he’s actually tried to avoid stamping on him as much as anything.”
Alan Shearer added: “You can see him just try to pull his foot out of the way.
“I think he thinks about it for a split second… he just does enough to pull his foot out of the way.”
Former Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole agreed and said: “It could have been totally worse.
“I don’t think Mason is touched. Or at least not touched hard enough.
“It’s one of these things, you’re playing in a semi-final, tempers will flare up.”
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The Blues dominated possession in the first-half but neither side could force an opener in an uneventful 45 minutes.
Hakim Ziyech did have the ball in the net only for Timo Werner to be belatedly flagged offside.
But man-of-the-match Ziyech did go on to get the winner after the break with Werner providing the assist to send the Blues to a Wembley final and crush Pep Guardiola’s quadruple dreams.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel excluded Tammy Abraham from his 18-man squad despite the forward being fully fit – a move which is said to have left his team-mates ‘shocked’.
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