Manchester City and Arsenal have been charged by the FA over the conduct of their players during their Premier League match this week.
The two clubs played out a feisty clash at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday that frequently threatened to boil over. Both sets of players had plenty to say to the referee throughout a match that had numerous flashpoints, and also saw Kevin De Bruyne targeted with objects thrown from the crowd, an incident being investigated separately.
Both clubs have now been charged with failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion for the times when they surrounded the match official. They have until Tuesday, February 21 to provide their response.
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City have been charged for two separate incidents. The first came in the 42nd minute, when referee Anthony Taylor gave a penalty against Ederson despite Eddie Nketiah getting his shot away.
They have also been charged for an incident in the 64th minute when City players were furious that Nketiah did not receive more than a yellow card for a strong challenge on Ruben Dias. Arsenal have been charged for surrounding the referee when he awarded a penalty against Gabriel for a foul on Erling Haaland, before it was ruled out for offside.
The refereeing body had tried to make a statement ahead of the game by dropping a VAR official who had made an error in the previous weekend. A PGMOL statement read: "We accept mistakes were made and we acted accordingly by calling a meeting and changing appointments where appropriate, however, we are encouraged by the way out officials have responded and are confident they will take the learnings forward, always with the aim of delivering high officiating standards for the benefit of the game. "
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