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.

File photo of Diego Costa who scored the only goal of the match
Image: Aleksandr Osipov.

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
Sent off after 18' 18' Per Mertesacker
Booked after 45 minutes 45' Mathieu Flamini
(0–1) HT Scored after 23 minutes 23' Diego Costa
Booked after 11 minutes 11' Oscar
Booked after 60 minutes 60' Nemanja Matić
Booked after 72 minutes 72' John Obi Mikel


Sources