Arsene Wenger bemoaned the influence of Diego Costa as the Chelsea striker once again proved a thorn in 10-man Arsenal’s side.
Costa in September tussled with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel, who was sent off, and on Sunday drew a foul from Per Mertesacker which saw the German dismissed at the Emirates Stadium in Chelsea’s 1-0 win.
The Chelsea striker then netted his sixth goal in six games to dent the Gunners’ title hopes and extend their win less league run against their London rivals to nine games
Wenger told Sky Sports : “Mertesacker made the challenge but I said he got Mertesacker sent off, you can not say it’s not true. “I haven’t seen it again, I said in the first game he got Gabriel sent off and today he got Mertesacker sent off. A fact is a fact, I do not accuse him of anything, it’s just what happened.”
Asked about the incident later in his post-match press conference, Wenger said: “I said Costa got two of our players sent off in the last two games against Chelsea. Those are only facts. “Is the decision right or wrong? I don’t know. That is a fact, without accusing him of anything.”
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Chelsea's Diego Costa scores his side's first goal of the match during the Barclays Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. |
“The referee made a decision and we have to get on with it,” Wenger said.
“I didn’t know if Costa was offside or not, or if Per Mertesacker touched him or not. I don’t know.
“It was of course frustrating, but it’s a decision we have to take on the chin and get on with our job. That’s what we did.”
The Frenchman declined to address Costa’s role further, but rued his side’s inability to make the most of the opportunity against a Chelsea side whose title defence has fallen apart this season.
“I would not compare today’s situation,” Wenger said. “It was not a confrontational situation like it was at Chelsea.
“It was a fact of a game and a decision of a referee. I don’t think it was linked with any bad behavior or attitude.
“We come out with a lot of regrets because we couldn’t play with our (full) team, and looking at Chelsea today, there was a lot of room to beat them if we had played with 11 players.”
