Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse will serve a three-match ban after accepting a charge of violent conduct from the Football Association.
Cisse elbowed Everton defender Seamus Coleman during Sunday’s 3-2 league win over the Toffees.
He will miss Thursday’s visit of Burnley, Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Leicester and the Premier League game at Chelsea on 10 January.
The 29-year-old is his side’s top scorer with nine goals.
He netted for the fifth time in six Premier League games as Newcastle ended a four-game losing run on Sunday.
Toffees boss Roberto Martinez said Cisse was lucky not to have been sent off for the incident, which was not seen by match officials at the time, describing it as “unacceptable”.
“You don’t want to see that on a football pitch, that shouldn’t be allowed,” he said.
“Two players fighting for their position at a dead-ball situation and you end up deciding to take the law into your own hands by elbowing a fellow professional.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
