– Reuters pic, January 25, 2016.Chelsea striker Diego Costa proved to be Arsenal’s nemesis once again yesterday, scoring the only goal of a fiery London derby to deny the home side the chance to top the Premier League.
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Mertesacker was shown a red card in the 18th minute for a lunging challenge that took down Costa after the striker was sent in on goal.
“There was no doubt because you could see it was a attractive through pass and Diego could run straight to [Petr Cech, the Arsenal keeper], but he was tripped”, Hiddink said.
“We’ll see, well make some scans but I don’t think it’s very very serious”, he is quoted by the London Evening Standard. There is a long way still top go and we still have to look forward.
Wenger said: “The fact is we needed to get strength on the counter-attack and needed pace”.
Arsenal have now had four players sent off during their last five league matches against Chelsea, who have not lost to the Gunners for nine top-flight showdowns, with Mertesacker the latest culprit.
“It was on my mind. The referee made the decision and we have to get on with it. I didn’t speak to Per Mertesacker [about it]”. “I don’t know. That is a fact, without accusing him of anything”.
Prior to Sunday’s loss, Arsenal were third in the Premier League table with 44 points, tied with Manchester City who were sitting on the second spot, behind the league-leading Leicester City (47 points).
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger gestures on the touchline at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger also gave his opinion on the red card given to Per Mertesacker.
“Our first part of the season wasn’t good and now we want to take a maximum number of points with the same desire we showed this evening”.
With the win, Swansea earned successive Premier League wins for the first time this season, moving them four points clear of the bottom three.
Hiddink said: “With that gap, it’s hard to go into fourth position”.
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“I’m very pleased with the attitude of the team, ” Hiddink said. After the sending off, I, like most people, was readying myself for a slaughter, but that didn’t happen.
