Football
ESPN staff 9y

Diego Costa was man of the match vs. Arsenal - Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa was the man of the match in his side's 2-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday.

Costa was not on the scoresheet, as Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard's deflected shot secured the win, but he was heavily involved throughout the match at Stamford Bridge.

In the first half, the Spain international clashed with Gabriel Paulista, with both players booked by referee Mike Dean, before the Arsenal defender was given a straight red card for flicking a boot at Costa.

Mourinho said after the fixture: "Good victory, we need to win matches. We won twice in three days, we kept two clean sheets. We controlled the matches.

"I don't have a view on the sending off. Man of the match for sure was Diego Costa. He brought everything to the game."

He added: "The game is about all different aspects. The technical, emotional, physical and with a combination of these factors normally the best team wins. We were the best team. We were dominant, we were in control.

"I played my first derby as manager in September 2000 and I remember my words to my players. To win the derby -- emotional control. I always repeat the same words before derbies.

"For me it was a fantastic performance [from Costa]. He played the game like the game has to be played. He's fast, he's aggressive and he's good to recover the ball and offers us different qualities."

Costa, who also squared up to Laurent Koscielny with his chest, was replaced by Loic Remy with eight minutes remaining.

Zouma opened the scoring early in the second half before Hazard's shot found the net via Calum Chambers late on.

Mourinho dropped captain John Terry for the fixture, with Gary Cahill and goal scorer Zouma preferred in the centre of defence.

Speaking prematch, Mourinho told BT Sport: "John is what you like to call a technical or a tactical decision.

"I have three central defenders, I trust them the same. But I try to read the game, I try to read the opponent, I try to predict what the opponent can be and we decided to go with Zouma and Gary."

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