This was the classic Diego Costa performance
Many years in the future, when some historian is looking for a performance that perfectly explains Diego Costa’s time at Chelsea, this performance will likely be top of the list. Rarely is there a game that so perfectly captures all of a player’s positives and negatives.
Swansea’s entire game plan seemed to be fairly simply: Foul Diego Costa as much as possible and hope he retaliates enough to get sent off. And so, time and time again, Costa would be tackled and Swansea would evade a yellow card. The more this happened, the more frustrated Diego Costa became, eventually getting a yellow card himself just before half time.
The break did little to cool off either side. Swansea repeatedly fouled Diego Costa and he repeatedly flirted with a second yellow as his frustration grew.
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But Costa is Costa. He managed to stay on the pitch and score not one good goal from the edge of the area, but two. His second goal one of his best in a Chelsea shirt. All the while, pundits the world over mentioned how he was lucky to still be on the field and how much he toes the line to frustrate opponents.
The media consistently fail to mention the insane number of fouls on Costa. Yesterday, Swansea City committed 17 fouls and received three yellow cards. Chelsea went nine and four, respectively. This raises the biggest problem with the press making Costa the pantomime villain of the Premier League. They have made it acceptable to do your worst to Diego Costa.
To be fair, there were several instances as the game went on that Diego could have seen red. But, by his usual grace of magic, he stayed on to finish what might be the most Costa like of all his performances.
Next: Defense still needs work