Chelsea FC: Diego Costa being unfairly targeted

After a testy match against West Ham United, Chelsea FC striker Diego Costa was unfairly targeted by the media

Monday’s match between West Ham and Chelsea FC was your typical London derby. It was a physical and testy affair between two clubs on somewhat surprisingly equal footing as the resurgent Hammers are looking to upset traditional Premier League beliefs on who should finish in the top four.

Chelsea on the other hand were looking to re-establish their place at the summit of the league and new manager Antonio Conte wanted to get his debut campaign off to a good start. With all of the new faces on the pitch and on touchline, it was a familiar face that became the center of attention after the match for his goal and his “extra curricular” actions.

The villain of the Premier League, Diego Costa, accepted his role once again although he did so reluctantly. He was booked early on in the match under the new dissent rules that will surely rankle supporters and managers all year long and according to some should have been sent off for a challenge on West Ham keeper Adrian.

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The booking for dissent was harsh under any circumstances but of course these new rules are designed to be draconian to ward off mouthy players but they will likely have a bigger impact on the battle for places in table than expected. Under the new rules, the booking was deserved but a second booking would not have been.

In the second half as Chelsea was pressing West Ham to try and close out the match, West Ham keeper Adrian dawdled on the ball in front of his goal and Diego Costa came in with what many have called a “striker’s challenge”. Those challenges are usually mistimed and a bit reckless, largely due to the fact that strikers may go in to a challenge just once or twice in a match and likely do not practice it much.

Costa caught Adrian on the calf as the keeper scrambled to get the ball away and while the referee called the foul he did not book the Chelsea FC striker. It was a judgement call and ultimately the right one because while Costa was late his intent was not cynical and he had every right to challenge for the ball in those circumstances. If he was not booked for the dissent earlier then a yellow card would surely have been shown but it was not an offense worth being sent off over.

West Ham obviously felt he should have been sent off and to add insult to potential injury, Costa scored the late winner to earn Chelsea FC all three points and give Antonio Conte a win on his debut. After the match, much of the talk was surrounding the “evil” Diego Costa and his “vicious” challenge on Adrian rather than the fact that Chelsea showed real fight for the first time since they ended Tottenham’s title hopes last May.

Diego Costa did what any other striker would have done but because of his reputation he is being unfairly targeted and labelled as a “cheat”. He showed more desire in that one play than he did all of last season and that should be enough to scare Chelsea FC’s rivals more so than a slightly late challenge.