Pablo Zabaleta Took To Twitter To Post Picture Of Diego Costa Grabbing Him By The Throat

Pablo Zabaleta of Manchester City took to Twitter to post a picture of him being grabbed on the neck by Diego Costa of Chelsea while blasting the decision not to send off Costa during the 1-1 draw on Sunday.

However after seeing this image I can't believe that Diego Costa remained on the pitch. pic.twitter.com/WwjyG9CXzx

- Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) September 21, 2014

The Manchester defender was dismissed midway through the second half after receiving a second yellow card following a late tackle on Costa.

The Spaniard was pretty angry and pushed the Argentinian before putting his hands around his neck but referee Mike Dean sent the Argentinian off and Manchester City went on the final 25 minutes without him.

It appears that the absence of the 29-year-old took its toll on the defending champion as Chelsea immediately took control of the game after he left. Chelsea took the lead through Andre Schurrle before Frank Lampard came off the bench to score against his former team.

Although Zabaleta apologised on Twitter, he also expressed his disbelief at the decision not to send the 25-year-old off as well. He made his point by posting the photo where Costa was seen grabbing him by the throat.

Meanwhile, Zabaleta could be dropped by the Manchester City due to missed games through suspension. For some teams, it wouldn't be easy to replace such a consistent full back but unfortunately for Zabaleta, City can simply bring back Bacary Sagna who carries over 200 Premier League appearances.

When Zabaleta was given his second yellow, Manuel Pellegrini immediately summoned Sagna from the bench to enter the game. With Zabaleta's absence, Sagna has been presented with the chance to stake a claim being Pellegrini's first choice. But then again, there is no sure way to tell what's inside Pellegrini's mind and how he will address the issue.