Chelsea, City fined for Etihad brawl

The Football Association fined Chelsea £100,000 and Manchester City £35,000 for their role in a bench-clearing brawl Dec. 3 at the Etihad.

Sergio Aguero's vicious slide tackle on David Luiz prompted reactions from players of both clubs late in the match.

The FA charged Chelsea and City with failure to control their players two days after the fracas - an indictment both sides accepted.

Fernandinho was also red carded for grabbing Cesc Fabregas by the neck. The Brazilian, along with Aguero, both drew four-match bans.

There were suggestions Chelsea would face a points deduction because of persistent FA breaches, but manager Antonio Conte wouldn't even entertain that thought.

"Are you joking? Are you joking?" he said.

An appeal board warned the Blues following their involvement in a tense May encounter against Tottenham that the "time cannot be too far distant when a commission concludes the only proper sanction is a points deduction."

However, Jose Mourinho was the one who presided over Chelsea during that doomed 2015-16 campaign.

At the Etihad, Chelsea wasn't considered the instigator.

"For me, if you are involved in a situation where you are not at fault, why must you pay?" Conte asked.