Aguero’s four-game ban confirmed by FA

It was an extremely important and exciting affair but it was also tainted by an ugly brawl towards the end, which both managers discussed in their respective postgame press conferences.

Costa has frequently fallen foul of England’s football authorities since joining Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in 2014.

The victory moves Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premier League while City, who were four points clear themselves at the end of September, have now taken just 12 points from their last eight games.

Both players face substantial spells in the stands after their involvement in the unsavoury scenes at Stamford Bridge this past weekend.

The visitors equalised when a searching Fabregas pass dropped over Otamendi onto the chest of Diego Costa, whose first touch was ideal and his second slotted the ball past Claudio Bravo. Fabian Delph could be in line for his first appearance since August.

However, the Belgian captain made no promises regarding Chelsea’s form and chose to not get carried away, saying “We can laugh about it now, but we’ll see”.

“I know Sergio’s tackle was in no way good, but what happened after – when a few of their boys came in – I didn’t think it was fairly balanced”.

City dominated for the first hour against Chelsea but paid the price for spurning a host of chances as their leaky defence was exposed late on. Kevin De Bruyne squandered a glorious chance to make it 2-0 in the 56th minute, hitting the bar from barely five yards out, and four minutes later Chelsea levelled.

Agüero has been banned for four league games after a horrific tackle on Chelsea’s David Luiz, while Fernandinho is set to miss three games for shoving Fabregas over an advertising hoarding in retaliation and grabbing his throat.

He said: “I greeted Cesc in the changing room”.

Fabregas’ role in Fernandinho’s dismissal could also be scrutinised after it appeared he struck the City man in the face, prompting the Brazil international’s furious reaction.

City defender John Stones, whose side went ahead courtesy of Gary Cahill’s own goal, said: “There is quite a sour feeling running through everyone’s mind”.

“It is a pity the game finished like this”, Guardiola told the BBC. “I don’t like that”. Including a retrospective punishment for Aguero earlier in the season, City players have effectively collected six red cards this campaign. “Not for the referee”.

“I say congratulations to Chelsea, but I’m proud of the we played, and we can not forget against which team we played”. We were happy [against Palace and Burnley] because we won but we were anxious at the time.

“We lost at home. But I have no regrets”. Aguero is an incredible player who does a lot for football”, he told Sky Sports.”I want to dedicate this win to the people who died in Brazil.