Martial escapes FA ban for ‘dive’

Anthony Martial has escaped any FA punishment for allegedly diving to win a penalty against Everton on Sunday.

In-form Martial will be free to face Bournemouth on Saturday after an FA panel ruled out taking action against the Manchester United attacker.

Everton boss Marco Silva was adamant Martial deceived referee Jon Moss by hitting the deck following a challenge from Idrissa Gueye.

Gueye just about knocked the ball away from Martial in the box, but the Everton midfielder then tangled legs with the forward before he went to ground.

Silva raged: “It was not a penalty. It is clear the player dived.

“When the game is balanced in the first 20 to 35 minutes, the penalty put them ahead and made them more comfortable.

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“It leaves a bad sensation, I told the players after the game that it was not a fair result.”

Last season the FA introduced a new rule to give them the authority to retrospectively punish players who dive to win penalties.

A three-person panel, consisting of an ex-referee, an ex-player and a former manager, reviewed footage of the incident this morning and they could not come to a unanimous decision on the case.

And if the panel fails to reach a unanimous decision where all three agree, then the player has no case to answer.

Jose Mourinho will be relieved the FA will not be taking any action against his red-hot forward, who is expected to start against the Cherries at the Vitality Stadium in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.

FA rules state there must be “clear and overwhelming evidence to suggest a match official has been deceived by an act of simulation” for a player to be given a retrospective ban.