Diego Costa was the subject in question and the conversation went back and forth. ‘Should he have been sent off?,’ Jose Mourinho was asked for a third time.
‘I think you should be speaking about Gabriel Paulista,’ he said, virtually spitting the words out in fury. ‘He made a mistake.’
So what was Mourinho’s assessment of Costa’s role in this game? ‘Man of the match for me,’ he said, again with equal defiance.
And, of course, he was right, just not, perhaps, in the way he intended.
Kurt Zouma rose highest to latch onto
Cesc Fabregas' inch-perfect free-kick and head home beyond former
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech
Zouma sneaked in at the back post to
head his team into the lead after Laurent Koscielny hadn't stepped up
like the rest of the back line
Zouma looks understandably delighted
with his second-half goal at Stamford Bridge and is closely followed by
his Chelsea team-mates
The lengthy brawl at the end of the first half at Stamford Bridge begun after Costa had pushed Gabriel's team-mate Koscielny
The 20-year-old France international
is mobbed by his Chelsea team-mates after opening the scoring at the
beginning of the first half
The Blue's lead was doubled in stoppage time when Eden Hazard's shot deflected in off Arsenal defender Calum Chambers
Arsenal defender Gabriel received his
marching orders at the end of the first half following a clash with
Chelsea striker Diego Costa
After initially receiving a yellow
card, Costa and Gabriel continue to bicker and the latter then reacts by
kicking out at his opponent
Referee Mike Dean prepares to brandish a red card to Gabriel after adjudging the defender to have kicked out at Costa
PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE STATS
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Begovic
6.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Zouma 8, Cahill 7.5, Azpilicueta 7, Fabregas 8.5
(Mikel 92), Matic 6.5, Pedro 6.5, Oscar 6.5 (Ramires 69), Hazard 7,
Costa 7.5 (Remy 82)
Subs not used: Falcao, Terry, Blackman, Loftus-Cheek
Goals: Zouma 53, Hazard 90
Booked: Ivanovic, Oscar, Costa
Manager: Jose Mourinho 6.5
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1):
Cech 7, Monreal 6, Gabriel 4, Koscielny 6.5, Bellerin 6, Coquelin, 6.5
(Chambers 45), Cazorla 5, Sanchez 6.5, Ozil 5.5 (Giroud 75), Ramsey
6.5, Walcott 7
Subs not used: Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain
Booked: Chambers
Sent off: Gabriel, Cazorla
Manager: Arsene Wenger 6
Referee: Mike Dean 6
Attendance: 41,584
MOM: Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas delivers the ball to Kurt Zouma who heads up. CLICK HERE for all the stats from our Match Zone
This
match was the epitome of what the Premier League has become. The
theatre was as much in the post-match analysis, both managers trading
insults at each other and their respective teams.
And
yet there is no doubt that Costa turned this match in Chelsea’s favour.
Arsene Wenger’s team were lured into a fight they could never win, a
streetwise scrap. They lost their heads and consequently the game,
ending up with nine men on the pitch.
Yet
even though both Gabriel and Santi Cazorla’s red cards were entirely
legitimate, a powerful sense of injustice pervaded. That’s just how it
is with Costa; he gets right under your skin. And so it is with Chelsea.
With just the one victory in the Premier League, they had to find a way
to win; any way would do.
The
pivotal incident occurred at the end of the first half. Costa’s arms
were all over Koscielny’s face as they battled; another pass came and he
aimed slapped at the Frenchman’s face, his first potential red card.
Costa
fell but sprung up and body checked Koscielny to the floor, a potential
second red card. Gabriel, incensed, grabbed Costa around the neck and
aimed a slap. He might have gone for that but Mike Dean decided a yellow
card a piece sufficed.
Like
squabbling toddlers, each desired the last word. Costa had it,
emphatically. Whispering into Gabriel’s ear, he provoked a flick of the
foot from the Arsenal defender, reminiscent of David Beckham’s in 1998;
not especially offensive but enough to register as violent conduct.
Former Villarreal defender vents his anger at Costa and attempts to confront the striker but is held back by compatriot Oscar
Gabriel is held back by players from
both teams as the defender makes his way to the dressing room following
his first-half sending off
Costa vents his anger at
defender Koscielny and prepares to confront the defender at the end of a
relatively low-key opening 45 minutes
After competing for the ball in the
Arsenal box, Costa and Koscielny confront each other and the former
pushes the defender in the face
The former Atletico Madrid striker aggressively pushes the France defender over and his opponent falls to the turf
The clash between Costa and Gabriel
occurred after the striker confronted Koscielny and pushed him to the
floor on the stroke of half time
What
looked bad for Dean was that he delayed as the Chelsea players harangued
him before he produced the red card. When it came, Gabriel could barely
control himself and only the constraining presence of team-mates
prevented him from doing himself further damage.
‘This
is my question,’ said Mourinho, using his favourite trick of turning on
inquisitors. ‘I played my first derby in September, 2000: Benfica
against Porto. And I told my players before the game you need emotional
control. Without emotional control, forget it. We don’t win.
‘If
you want to speak about Diego Costa with me it’s just to say he played
like he has to play and that’s why you have full stadiums and you sell
to television around the world for millions and millions; because the
game has to be played like that. That’s why tomorrow I will go to what I
consider comparable in terms in dedication and passion: New Zealand and
Argentina.
Invoking
the spirit of rugby to cover the multitude of Costa’s sins might have
been a jarring analogy. Rugby invented bloodgate, but in general it’s
never a sport as streetwise as football.
After watching Costa push his
team-mate, Gabriel makes his way towards Costa to confront the striker
at Stamford Bridge on Saturday
Arsenal attacking midfielder Santi
Cazorla, having already been booked, puts a strong challenge in on
former Arsenal man Fabregas
Referee Dean sends the Spain international off for two bookable offences following Cazorla's strong challenge in the second half
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez is challenged by Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic during Saturday's lunchtime Premier League clash
Costa
undeniably plays with passion but had Dean done his job, he would have
been sent off and then who would have been crowing about emotional
control?
Unsurprisingly,
that was Wenger’s view. ‘Costa can do what he wants and he stays on.
Everyone else that responds to him has to be sent off. It’s
unacceptable. He always gets away with it. I don’t understand Mike
Dean’s decision at all. Why does Diego Costa stay on the pitch and
Gabriel is sent off? For me, he is always provoking and also uses the
naivity of Mike Dean in this game.
Mourinho
had his riposte to hand. ‘I played against Arsenal 15 times and only
once he didn’t moan. And that day we lost the game, we lost the Cup. No
excuses. Not crying, not moaning.’ The last laugh always seems to go to
Mourinho.
Brazil international Oscar beats
Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla to the ball as he brings the ball
forward in an attempt to create a chance
France defender Laurent Koscienly (left) puts in a strong challenge on Chelsea's lone striker Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea midfielder Fabregas was looking to impress against his former team and he wins the battle with Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey
Chelsea attacking midfielder Oscar leaps high above Arsenal defender Koscielny as he attempts to win the ball in the first half
Theo Walcott (left) who led the line for Arsenal on Saturday, attends to Francis Coquelin after the midfielder went down injured
After
an absorbing first half which had produced precious few goal-scoring
chances, the solidity which Arsenal had shown broke down quickly once
they were down to ten men. With Calum Chambers being forced on to
replace Francis Coquelin, who had been excellent spoiler, their
vulnerabilities were soon exposed.
On
52 minutes, Cesc Fabregas sent over a looping free kick,
perfectly-pitched, as only rare talents like the Spaniard can manage.
Yet Nachon Monreal and Alexis Sanchez should share the blame as to how
Kurt Zouma found himself in quite so much space to head home firmly for
1-0.
Thereafter
Arsenal unsurprisingly struggled to get back on the front foot though
and when the ball did finally drop for Alexis Sanchez on the hour, after
a mistake from Gary Cahill, the Chilean misfired horribly.
Olivier
Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were introduced to spark a late
flurry. That strategy was wholly undone when Cazorla, doubtless
frustrated, slid into win a loose ball outside the box, and caught
Fabregas’ shin high on 79 minutes. Having incurred an earlier yellow for
a trip on Pedro, the second yellow was inevitable.
A
late goal would be added on 90minutes when Eden Hazard snapped up a
loose ball and shot against Chambers, who deflected into his own net.
But the contest had long since ended by then. Wenger could only despair
and rage against perceived injustice. Mourinho? There wasn’t even the
merest sign of a smirk.
Eden Hazard appeals for a penalty in the first half after going down under a strong challenge from Arsenal defender Gabriel
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho left captain John Terry out of his starting line-up and opted to start defender Zouma instead
Mourinho watches
from the touchline as his side aim to put their disappointing start to
the season behind them with a win over Arsenal
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech made his first return to Stamford Bridge after leaving Chelsea for the Gunners in the summer
Managers Arsene Wenger (right) of Arsenal and Jose Mourinho of Chelsea shake hands before their Premier League match
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