Chelsea news: Diego Costa 'lucky' to have not been sent off in Blues win against West Ham

The Blues striker already had a yellow card to his name as he lunged into goalkeeper Adrian with a dangerous challenge - but referee Anthony Taylor opted not to show the Spaniard a second card

Diego Costa attempts to apologise to Adrian after his late challenge on the West Ham keeper (Getty)

Diego Costa was “lucky” to have not been sent off in Chelsea’s Monday night clash against West Ham, according to Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.

The Blues striker already had a yellow card to his name as he lunged into goalkeeper Adrian with a dangerous challenge that caught the Hammers man just above the ankle.

But referee Anthony Taylor opted not to show the Spaniard a second yellow, despite the reckless nature of the tackle.

The decision would come back to haunt West Ham as the 27-year-old went on to score an 89^th minute winner to secure Chelsea all three points from their Premier League opener.

Speaking after the match, Jamie Carragher insisted that Taylor had made the wrong decision.

“This is a straight red card, that challenge there, it’s typical Costa, it happens too often,” he said.

“That there, it comes down the shin, over the ankle, it won’t be the first time, it won’t be the last time, he shouldn’t be on the pitch.”

Gary Neville agreed, commenting: “He’s lucky. That is a bad one. It is reckless, it is a poor challenge.

“That was a typical Diego Costa night, involved in everything, angry, snarling, scores a goal.”

Hammers manager Slaven Bilic refused to criticise Taylor though, despite the fact it cost his side the game.

“It's the first game of the season and we are already talking about those kind of decisions?” he said.

“From our point of view we are not happy with that. I saw the tackle once again; I don't think it was reckless. It was not a deliberate one. It was late.”

Diego Costa celebrates scoring the winning goal for Chelsea (Getty)

“Nine times out of 10, a challenge on a goalkeeper like this looks like a booking. Unfortunately this was the tenth time.”

“But, really, I'm only disappointed with the way the goals were conceded.

Bilic added: “The game was very lively. I'm a manager. I'm not Howard Webb to give comments. I gave my comment. I want to talk about the game.”