Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has sympathy for Chelsea striker Diego Costa over his three match.

Scholes feels Costa was provoked during Chelsea's Capital One Cup win over Liverpool.

He wrote in the London Evening Standard: "As for Diego Costa, I see it differently to the rest. I thought his actions were at the lower end of the scale of dangerous and that he was under extreme provocation from Martin Skrtel who has wound up before this season.

"My view of it was that Costa gets kicked a lot and actually his patience is to be admired in many, if not all, situations."