FA fines Chelsea £150,000 for post-match bottle incident

Chelsea Football Club has been fined £150,000 by the Football Association for a breach of conduct following their Premier League match against Aston Villa on December 27 at Stamford Bridge. The sanction stems from an incident where a plastic water bottle was thrown from Chelsea's technical area toward the visitors' bench immediately after the final whistle, during Aston Villa's 2-1 comeback victory.

The match saw Chelsea take an early lead through João Pedro in the first half, only for Aston Villa to equalize and win with two late goals from Ollie Watkins, including the decisive strike in the 84th minute. Tensions had been building throughout the game, with Chelsea players and staff accusing Aston Villa of time-wasting tactics. In one earlier moment, Villa's set-piece coach Austin McPhee was observed throwing a second ball onto the pitch to disrupt a quick throw-in by Chelsea.

Referee Stuart Attwell reported the allegation post-match, stating that an unidentified member of Chelsea's technical area had hurled the bottle in the direction of Aston Villa's bench. Footage reviewed by the FA showed the bottle traveling at speed, passing very close to the head of an Aston Villa...