Leicester charged by FA following Aston Villa defeat
Leicester City have been charged by the FA for their players’ behaviour late in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Villa.
The charge relates to an incident in the 93rd minute at the King Power Stadium when home players surrounded referee David Coote to appeal for a penalty.
With the Foxes chasing an equaliser, Jamie Vardy had tumbled to the ground as he attempted to reach a pass ahead of Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Replays confirmed Tielemans had won the ball ahead of Vardy when clearing it out of play but home players were furious, Harry Winks booked for his part in the protest.
Leicester have now been charged for “failing to ensure its players did not behave in an improper way”. The club has until Thursday to respond to the charge.
Vardy later saw another penalty appeal waved away due to being offside in the build-up.
Foxes boss Steve Cooper took aim at the standard of Premier League officiating during his post-match interviews, though his frustration focused more on the award of the free-kick which led to Villa’s opener far earlier in the match.
"Everybody in the stadium would have got booked if the ref had got round to it. I’ve accepted refereeing is where it is," Cooper said.
"You see it clearly that it’s behind the curve, the Premier League is the best league in the world in terms of domestic football but the refereeing, for a number of years, has been trying to catch up with that.
"You accept this is how it is and this is part of our modern game. You just keep fingers crossed because of where refereeing is. You keep your fingers crossed every week it doesn’t go against you.
