“It was a big win because we are in a bad position in the table and every point for us is important, especially when you play against Arsenal in this stadium where it is always hard”, Matic told chelseafc.com.
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Costa in September tussled with Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel, who was sent off, and drew a foul from Per Mertesacker which saw the German dismissed at the Emirates Stadium in Chelsea’s 1-0 win.
Costa added insult to injury five minutes later when he got in front of Gabriel Paulista, who came on after Mertesacker’s red card, and swept in a cross from Branislav Ivanovic.
Arsenal’s defeat left it in third spot, three points behind shock leader Leicester City, while Chelsea moved up into 13th place.
Since Jose Mourinho was sacked last month for turning the champs into chumps, the league campaign has been about restoring pride.
The immediate focus is on the FA Cup which Arsenal have won in the last two seasons.
“Of course he knows his best and I’m happy when he says he is growing in confidence”. I don’t know. It is a fact, without accusing him of anything.
Arsenal couldn’t muster an equaliser, despite good periods of plays, but their French boss could still see positives from the result, even if the sending off wasn’t clear cut. We wanted to compete, we wanted to take advantage of playing at home, but unfortunately the decisive moment came quite early on in the game.
He continued: “The referee was very quick to take the red card out”.
It leaves them level with second-placed Manchester City on points – but behind the 2013-14 champions on goal difference and two points above fourth-placed north London rivals Tottenham.
Cech concluded: “I thought for 70 minutes we were brilliant, in terms of the team effort and the organisation”.
But Hiddink said: “There’s no doubt. But when the captain is saying that I will follow my captain”.
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“I feel we couldn’t play with our real team for 90 minutes”.
