Gareth Barry Dispels Diego Costa Accusation Following Chelsea FC Loss
Following some suspicious pictures, Gareth Barry has confirmed that Chelsea FC striker Diego Costa did not bite him during their FA Cup clash at the weekend.
Saturday was not a great day for Chelsea. After being eliminated from the Champions League a few days earlier, the Blues were knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton, leaving their season dead in the water. It was a especially poor day for Diego Costa, who reverted to his usual aggravating antics without looking threatening in front of goal.
The Spanish international capped it off by being dismissed for a second yellow card. Following a Gareth Barry tackle, Costa confronted the midfielder at close quarters and video footage suggested that he may have bit the Everton man.
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With ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez being handed a 10-game ban for a similar attack on Branislav Ivanovic some three years ago, it was not looking good for Costa.
While the FA will undoubtedly review the footage independently, Barry has confirmed via social media outlet Fanzai that Costa did not in fact bite him.
"Seen a lot of talk about the incident involving me and Diego Costa in the game last night. For the record Diego did not bite me. – via The Guardian"
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This will provide a small crumb of comfort for Blues fans after a dire week. Without Barry’s statement, Costa could well have been in major trouble with pictures appearing to show at least an attempt to bite the midfielder.
The governing body will first review referee Michael Oliver’s matchday report before taking this matter further.
For Chelsea, meanwhile, it was an ugly reminder of the kind of player that Costa can easily turn into. The first half of the campaign was plagued by the type of performance that was witnessed on Saturday afternoon. The striker was largely ineffectual in his denoted role, more concerned with getting into scraps.
Blues fans will inevitably argue that there is a bias against him, but the presence of one is purely due to his track-record. Such antics do little but provoke the ire of Chelsea supporters while earning ridicule from others.
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On the back of his impressive scoring run, it was hoped that Costa had left his troublesome form in the past. However, the Everton display has once again resurrected calls for his sale in the summer. He is evidently a quality striker, but Chelsea may be better off finding someone else to do the job.