LONDON — Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard was charged with violent conduct by the FA Friday after this week's bizarre clash with a ballboy who prevented him from retrieving the ball. The Belgian international was sent off in Wednesday's League Cup semifinal second leg at Swansea City after kicking the teenager while trying to get the ball as the ballboy laid on top of it. The player subsequently apologized. Hazard received an automatic three-match ban for his 78th-minute red card but could now face a longer suspension. He has until Tuesday to respond to the charge. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, sending Swansea through to next month's final 2-0 on aggregate. United wraps up Zaha deal Premier League leader Manchester United has agreed a fee to buy exciting young forward Wilfried Zaha from second-tier Crystal Palace, the clubs said Friday. The Ivory Coast-born 20-year-old, who left west Africa as a four-year-old, will be immediately loaned back to Crystal Palace for the remainder of this season. Palace said it expected the deal to be concluded early next week and that Zaha had agreed personal terms with the 19-time English champion. “We would like to thank Wilf for all he has done for the club and we all wish him well when he joins Manchester United in the summer,” Palace co-chairman Steve Parish said on his club's website. “It was essential to Wilf and ourselves that he stayed at Palace for the remainder of this season to help the club with its main aim of promotion to the Premier League.” United, which confirmed the deal on its website, said the player was having a medical in Manchester Friday but that there would be no further comment until he joined the club in July. Neither club gave any financial details but British media has widely reported the deal to be worth $23.68 million. Zaha becomes United's first signing of the January transfer window. Zaha made his England debut as a substitute in the 4-2 friendly international defeat by Sweden in November last year, becoming only the second Championship (second division) outfield player in five years to be called up by England. He is eligible to play for the Ivory Coast because the game in Stockholm was classed as a non-competitive game by FIFA. — Agencies
