Costa, who has proved to be a bit of a thorn in the Gunners’ side in recent times, scored the only goal in the Blues’ 1-0 win over their London rivals.
Advertisement
Everton is a point and a place above Chelsea after losing 2-1 to Swansea in Sunday’s other game.
“Of course we are not in a good position in the table but there are a lot of games until the end of the season and we have chance to show our quality”.
It was Arsenal’s first defeat in 10 home league games and left Arsene Wenger’s side in third place, below Manchester City on goal difference and three points shy of leaders Leicester City. “I don’t think that is down to Mertesacker giving the captaincy to Walcott”, he said, as reported by the London Evening Standard.
The 27-year-old came close to a second just before half-time but Cech again turned the ball behind, with Ivanovic’s header from the resulting corner cleared off the line by Nacho Monreal.
Guus Hiddink says Diego Costa “likes to fight – in a good way” and warned any defenders facing the Chelsea striker that trouble awaits.
Midfielder Nemanja Matic added on chelseafc.com: “This was the real Chelsea, and I believe that we can show again in the future that we deserve to play for this club”.
Mertesacker was caught flat footed when Willian, Chelsea’s best player this season, threaded a ball in the direction of Costa.
Costa had goaded Gabriel into kicking out at him in September’s reverse fixture, earning the Arsenal centre-back a red card, and Wenger told a TV interviewer: “He has got two (Arsenal) players sent off this season”.
“I don’t know if it’s slight or more severe, but we’ll check on it”, said the Dutchman. Gabriel replaced Olivier Giroud, to boos from the home fans.
Even Alexis Sanchez’s return in the second half, after two months out injured, made little impact.
“I made the decision and, for me, it was quite a normal decision”.
“We created enough chances to win the game”.
Wenger clung to the positives of the performance, although he admitted it would be hard to raise spirits after the loss.
Advertisement
“I would not compare today’s situation”, Wenger said.
