Arsene Wenger was once again left to fume about Diego Costa as Arsenal blew their chance to climb back to the top of the Barclays Premier League.
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Costa was fouled by Mertesacker as the last man 18 minutes into the fixture, and the Germany global received a straight red to dent the Gunners’ chances in the race for the title.
Costa scored the winning goal at the Emirates, but minutes before had been played through on goal and drew a challenge from the German – who was Arsenal’s last defender.
Asked whether Costa got Mertesacker sent off, Wenger replied: “Yes, of course”.
“It’s a gap. If you see the results in the Premier League, you see how competitive all the teams are, whether you’re down at the bottom or high in the ranking. But the fact is a fact, I do not accuse him of anything, it’s just what happened”. “If a team has a defender sent off, it is usually one of their “luxury” players who gets dragged off – not the big striker”.
Wenger’s mood was not helped when home fans jeered his decision to substitute Olivier Giroud in the reshuffle, after Mertesacker’s red card.
Addressing the print media shortly after, the Arsenal manager backtracked, saying that he had only been stating “facts”, but maintained that referee Mark Clattenburg’s decision had been “harsh”.
“I would not compare today’s situation”, Wenger said.
“He is strategically very strong”, said Hiddink. “I make the decision and for me it was a normal decision”.
Captain John Terry believes a top-four place and Champions League qualification is not beyond them, but fourth-placed Tottenham are 14 points ahead with 15 games to go.
Fabregas has had a hard second season at Stamford Bridge but he ran the match against his former club as he continued his revival under Guus Hiddink.
This was a notable win for Swansea as it meant they had recorded back-to-back league successes for the first time this season following last week’s 1-0 defeat of Watford.
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“We’ll keep fighting in the league until there’s no points left to play for”.
