I would say play acting would apply to where these been no contact. He was definately hit, and would be hars to punish him for how he went down. Yes he made more of it than he should of but the red was completely justified, so O'Neill bringing that up makes no sense, hes already admitted he should have been sent off. And you know if Tiote hadnt gone down, nothing would of happened.
On the play acting front, serious question. Is Larsson a cheat for when he handballed it and then said it hit his head at the SOL? Cos its pretty much worse. Tiote at least got a whack in the process so it was a definate red and foul.