He Looked Sharp – Arsene Wenger Takes Alexis Sanchez Positive From Chelsea Loss

Diego Costa is a serial cheat, according to former Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

Mertesacker was given his marching orders after a last-ditch tackle on the Spaniard when he was through on goal, but Wenger felt the striker played a role in the referee’s decision to pull out the red card.

Chelsea continued their domination of Arsenal with a 1-0 win Sunday that denied the 10-man Gunners the chance to go top of the Premier League.

However, after Mertesacker’s dismissal, Arsenal were second best and Costa rubbed salt into their wounds by scoring the only goal of the game.

Chelsea captain John Terry said that his side’s controlled performance would give the champions belief in their quest to close the 14-point gap that separates them from the Champions League places.

The relationship is repaired now, with Costa regaining that mixture of marksmanship and menace that made him so significant in last season’s Premier League title win.

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“.

“But on Mertesacker’s red card, look closely”.

The Blues were underdogs coming into the game but were in control in the early stages and dominated after Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker was sent off in the 18th minute of the game.

“I thought we should’ve come out with the game with at least a 1-1 even though we were down to ten men”. I don’t know. But these are the facts, without accusing him of anything.

Before those games, Arsenal were in a two-match winning streak, capturing victories over AFC Bournemouth (2-0) and Newcastle United (1-0).

“There was no doubt”, said Hiddink.

Cech said: “We are disappointed because we lost a game at home. I’d like to see the image and I’d give a fair judgement but, from what I saw, he was tripped”.

“I feel we couldn’t play with our real team for 90 minutes”.

Chelsea have climbed to 13th in the table in recent weeks on the back of the Premier League’s longest current unbeaten run and midfielder Nemanja Matic is confident they can maintain that upward turn over the next few months. “But if my captain says it, we follow our captain”.