Vieira faces FA charge after Whelan incident

Man City’s Patrick Vieira has been charged with violent conduct by the FA after appearing to kick Glenn Whelan in the groin during last night’s match.

Tony Pulis was incensed by the lack of action by Alan Wiley and dropped a none too subtle hint in the post-match interviews that he expected the FA to take action since Wiley didn’t.

Tonight’s announcement will go some way towards the ‘parity’ that the Stoke boss insisted was only fair after Abdoulaye Faye was shown a red card for pulling back Adebayor. The FA have also announced that Abdy is to be banned for two games, which means that he will miss the trip to Portsmouth at the weekend and the cup replay next Wednesday, but will be available for Arsenal’s visit to the Brit in ten days time.

Vieira has been given until the end of Thursday to respond to the charge and will face a hearing in front of a regulatory commission on Friday so might be banned for the replay next week.