Slaven Bilic: Chelsea forward Diego Costa could have been sent off against West Ham
Tuesday 16 August 2016 08:28, UK
Slaven Bilic believes Diego Costa could have been sent off during West Ham's 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Monday Night Football.
The Blues striker had already been booked when he fouled goalkeeper Adrian, but referee Anthony Taylor awarded a free-kick without producing a second yellow card.
Costa went on to score the winner, securing Antonio Conte's first Premier League victory.
"He had already been booked," the West Ham boss told Sky Sports. "I saw it again in the dressing room and it wasn't reckless and I don't think it was deliberate.
"It was quite late, the ball was already gone and he could have or should have been booked again, and that would have meant a red card.
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"But I'm not frustrated because of that, I'm frustrated because we conceded a very late goal and that's what makes me sad."
James Collins had cancelled out Eden Hazard's penalty at Stamford Bridge, and West Ham were closing in on a valuable away point when Costa struck in the 89th minute.
"When you lose a game by conceding such a late goal of course you are disappointed," Bilic added.
"I thought we could get a point, but to be fair, from the first 15 minutes until we equalised, they were much better than us. They didn't create many chances but they were better on the ball, they were pressing and much more aggressive than us.
"They have individual class with [Eden] Hazard, Costa, Willian and more of them.
"We came back in the game and from 1-1 we played well. I felt we controlled the game and then, like the first goal, we made a mistake in the middle of the park when the ball was totally under control for us.
"We gave the ball away with a sloppy pass and conceded a very cheap goal."
The Hammers suffered an early blow when club-record signing Andre Ayew limped off with a thigh injury after 35 minutes, and Bilic said the club must wait and see on its severity.
"We have to wait," he continued. "It's a thigh injury, and we have to wait until the scan tomorrow and then we will find out how long it's going to be."
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