Arsenal vs Chelsea reaction: Diego Costa 'has got two players sent off this season,' says Arsene Wenger

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 1

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Arsène Wenger admitted Arsenal fell foul of Diego Costa once again after the Chelsea forward scored the only goal of the game to seal victory at the Emirates after sparking the first-half dismissal of Per Mertesacker.

Costa, who was at the centre of red cards for Gabriel and Santi Cazorla during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge last September, saw Mertesacker dismissed by the referee, Mark Clattenburg, in the 18th minute after the German’s clumsy challenge felled the striker.

But while Wenger refused to condemn the former Atletico Madrid forward, the Arsenal manager made clear his frustration with the player’s propensity to earn red cards for his players.

“Costa got two of our players sent off in our last game against Chelsea, but these are facts,” Wenger said. “This is not accusing him of anything, it is just facts. Costa got two players off in two games on our side. So he’s clever. Mertesacker made the challenge but he got Mertesacker sent off. You cannot say it’s not true.

Arsenal’s defeat extends their poor run against Chelsea to one win in nine league encounters and also denied Wenger’s team the chance to dislodge Leicester City at the top of the table. But the Frenchman insists that there are positives to take from his team’s defeat.

“We should have had a draw at least,” Wenger said. “We had the chances to get a draw and mentally we were focused. Sometimes when you lose you can still say ‘well done’ to the players, so we come out of this game with more belief in ourselves.”

Chelsea are now seven games unbeaten in the league under Hiddink, who took over last month. But while the champions lie in 13th position, 14 points adrift of the top four, the Dutchman recognises a late surge into the Champions League qualification positions is not impossible.

“It’s a gap and if you see the results and how competitive it is, it is unpredictable and all teams can beat everybody else, so it is difficult to make the top four,” Hiddink said. “But if the captain, John Terry, says we can do it, then we follow the captain!”

Chelsea move up to 13th, while Arsenal are left in third place, level on points with Manchester City but three behind leaders Leicester City.