Man City's Sergio Aguero charged with violent conduct

London (AFP) – Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is in danger of missing the Manchester derby after he was charged with violent conduct by England’s Football Association on Tuesday.

The charge relates to an incident during City’s 3-1 home win over West Ham United last Sunday when Aguero appeared to swing his left elbow towards visiting defender Winston Reid.

He faces a three-game ban if found guilty, which would rule him out of City’s trip to Manchester United on September 10, a home game with Bournemouth and a trip to Swansea City in the League Cup.

“Sergio Aguero has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video,” the FA said in a statement on its website.

“The Manchester City forward was involved in an incident with West Ham United’s Winston Reid in the 76th minute of the game on Sunday [28 August 2016].”

Match referee Andre Marriner did not punish Aguero at the time, but footage of the incident was reviewed by a panel of three former referees, all of whom deemed it a red-card offence.

Aguero, 28, has until 1800 local time (1700 GMT) on Wednesday to respond to the charge.

He has already been ruled out of Argentina’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela due to a calf injury.

City and United will go into their meeting at Old Trafford level on points at the top of the Premier League after each winning their first three matches. Chelsea also have an unblemished record.