Wednesday, January 27, 2016

On Sunday, London-based football club Chelsea F.C. defeated local rivals Arsenal F.C. 0–1 in a Premier League match played at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners were reduced to ten men in the 18^th minute. Per Mertesacker brought down Diego Costa after a pass from Willian gave Costa a good opportunity to run towards Arsenal’s goal, and the referee showed Mertesacker the red card. Five minutes later, Costa scored at close range from Branislav Ivanovi?’s cross, putting the visitors 1–0 ahead.

The local derby saw four yellow cards and at least 25 fouls. Oscar was the first player to be booked in the 11^th minute. Mathieu Flamini was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Willian moments before the end of the first half.

The Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger substituted Alexis Sánchez for Joel Campbell in the 57^th minute. Three minutes later, Nemanja Mati? received a yellow card. Costa was injured during the match, and Loïc Rémy replaced him in the 68^th minute. John Obi Mikel was booked in the 72^nd minute. The match ended 0–1, and Guus Hiddink’s team, who had had the greater share of possession of the ball during the match, collected three points.

After the match, Wenger blamed Costa for Mertesacker’s sending-off. Wenger said, “He got him sent off — you cannot say it’s not true.”

In Sunday’s other Premier League match, Everton lost 1–2 at home to Swansea.