The Violent Conduct charge that pretty much everyone felt was coming was finally handed down and Manchester City forward Emmanuel Adebayor has accepted his three match ban punishment without incident, with the Togo International miss the Manchester Derby at the weekend.

Via Guardian 

Adebayor will miss Sunday’s derby at Manchester United as well as the Carling Cup tie at home to Fulham next Wednesday and West Ham United’s visit to the City of Manchester Stadium the following Monday. His club said they had “reluctantly accepted” he would be unable to convince the FA that he had not meant to hurt Van Persie, having left him with a bruised and bloodied face during City’s 4-2 defeat of Arsenal on Saturday.

“The player strongly maintains that he did not intend to act in a violent manner,” City said in a statement. “He apologised on the day to Robin van Persie personally and to the wider public for the outcome of the challenge.”

The club had initially considered fighting the charge but were also mindful that, if they did so unsuccessfully, Adebayor’s punishment might have been extended to four games, especially as the referee, Mark Clattenburg, has informed the FA that, having originally missed the incident, he now considered it to be a deliberate stamp. Van Persie has accused his former team-mate of being “mindless and malicious” while Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, described the challenge as “dangerous” and “very bad”.

City have subsequently decided there is no value in appealing but they will make a robust defence to try to ensure Adebayor does not miss any more matches because of his goal celebration after making the score 3-1. The £25m summer signing has been charged with improper conduct after running the entire length of the pitch to goad the Arsenal supporters, some of whom threw missiles on to the pitch. One steward needed lengthy medical treatment after being struck by a flying object.

Image via ThisIsLondon