Costa scores only goal as Chelsea beats Arsenal
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
On Sunday, London-based football club Chelsea F.C. defeated local rivals Arsenal F.C. 0–1 in a Premier League match played at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were reduced to ten men in the 18th minute. Per Mertesacker brought down Diego Costa after a pass from Willian gave Costa a good opportunity to run towards Arsenal's goal, and the referee showed Mertesacker the red card. Five minutes later, Costa scored at close range from Branislav Ivanović's cross, putting the visitors 1–0 ahead.
The local derby saw four yellow cards and at least 25 fouls. Oscar was the first player to be booked in the 11th minute. Mathieu Flamini was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Willian moments before the end of the first half.
The Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger substituted Alexis Sánchez for Joel Campbell in the 57th minute. Three minutes later, Nemanja Matić received a yellow card. Costa was injured during the match, and Loïc Rémy replaced him in the 68th minute. John Obi Mikel was booked in the 72nd minute. The match ended 0–1, and Guus Hiddink's team, who had had the greater share of possession of the ball during the match, collected three points.
After the match, Wenger blamed Costa for Mertesacker's sending-off. Wenger said, "He got him sent off — you cannot say it's not true."
In Sunday's other Premier League match, Everton lost 1–2 at home to Swansea.
January 24, 2016 | |||
Arsenal | 0–1 | Chelsea | Emirates Stadium, London Attendance: 60,072 Referee: Mark Clattenburg, England |
18' Per Mertesacker 45' Mathieu Flamini |
(0–1) HT | 23' Diego Costa 11' Oscar 60' Nemanja Matić 72' John Obi Mikel |
Sources
- Phil McNulty. "Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea" — BBC Sport, January 24, 2016
- Alan Smith. "Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea: Premier League – as it happened" — The Guardian, January 24, 2015
- Stephen Crawford. "Wenger: Costa got Mertesacker sent off" — Goal.com, January 24, 2015