Essien’s a clean player, says Jose

JOSE MOURINHO gave his full backing to Michael Essien after the Football Association cleared him of further punishment over his lunging tackle on Bolton’s Tal Ben Haim at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Essien received a yellow card for the challenge but the Ghanaian international escaped a three-match ban even after referee Rob Styles looked at the incident again on video.

Styles admitted he would have shown Essien a red card had he seen the tackle from another angle but the FA decided not to further punish the Chelsea player after consulting FIFA.