Aguero charged over elbow, expected to miss derby

Matt Stead

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been charged by the Football Association after appearing to elbow West Ham’s Winston Reid.

The Football Association has announced Aguero must answer a charge of alleged violent conduct following the incident during City’s defeat of the Hammers at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The 28-year-old has until 6pm on Wednesday to respond and could face a three-match ban, which would rule him out of the derby against Manchester United on September 10, if found guilty.

The off-the-ball incident, which occurred in the second half of City’s 3-1 win, was not seen by referee Andre Marriner or other officials during the game. It has since been reviewed by a panel of former elite match officials, all of whom agree the matter would have been a sending-off offence.

New Zealand defender Reid was later seen holding his throat and captain Mark Noble said after the game his team-mate “can’t really talk”.

A statement from the FA read: “Sergio Aguero has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.

“The Manchester City forward was involved in an incident with West Ham United’s Winston Reid in the 76th minute of the game on Sunday (August 28, 2016). He has until 6pm on Wednesday 31 August to reply.”

A three-match ban would also include a Premier League game against Bournemouth and an EFL Cup trip to Swansea.

Aguero had made a superb start to the season, scoring six times in his first three appearances including a hat-trick in a Champions League play-off win at Steaua Bucharest.

But the player also has injury concerns having withdrawn from Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela with a calf problem. City are still to learn the full extent of that injury.