Van Persie escapes action over elbow in FA Cup win

London: Robin van Persie has escaped a charge for the use of an elbow on Carlos Cuellar after the FA confirmed that referee Mike Jones saw the incident against Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth-round clash on Sunday and decided not to take any action.

The Dutch forward clashed with the Spanish centre-back in the second half of the tie and appeared to use his elbow to strike the defender in the face.

The incident raised complaints from Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish after the match but, because Jones told the FA that he saw the incident and decided not to take action, no further disciplinary decision is possible.

Arsene Wenger's side came from two goals down to win 3-2 on Sunday evening thanks to a penalty brace from the Dutch international and a fortunate Theo Walcott goal.

In a controversial incident in the second half, the Scot believed Carlos Cuellar was caught in the face by Van Persie's elbow, but the referee did not award a foul.

He told reporters: "I thought it was a clear elbow, but the referee did not seem to think there was anything in it. I thought he put the elbow towards Carlos' face. The big man is not a guy to lie down; he got up pretty quickly."

Van Persie has already come under fire this season for the way he challenges defenders with then-QPR boss Neil Warnock criticising the Dutchman after the two sides met earlier this season.

"I thought Van Persie - what do you say about someone like that? I'm glad he didn't get his record today against us, but he does get away with murder," Warnock told reporters.

"Every long ball that comes in, he gets his arm up. He fouls the centre-half, but he does it in a way that they don't give it, so it's obviously within the laws of the game."

"I think we've got to teach our players how to do that because it's within the laws of the game; it's ever so clever, but he does get away with murder. But I wish we had him."

"He looks at the player when the ball comes in, knows the player is going to get it, so he gets his arm up. There must have been six or seven fouls today that nobody's picked up on. It's disappointing but you get that at the Emirates, don't you?"