It was inevitable that Diego Costa would be in the thick of the action when Chelsea visited Arsenal in the Premier League this afternoon.
The Blues striker was involved in Per Mertesacker’s early red card at the Emirates Stadium, and then opened the scoring five minutes later.
SEE MORE: Per Mertesacker red card video: Chelsea villain Diego Costa gets another Arsenal player sent off
Watch more brilliant snippets like this with fanatix’s FREE sports video news app.
Costa found space in between two Arsenal defenders to meet Branislav Ivanovic’s excellent cross to the near post and turn home on 23 minutes.
It was quite possible that the Gunners had not reorganised themselves following the dismissal of Mertesacker for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
The German’s replacement – Gabriel Paulista – was sent off in September’s reverse fixture after becoming embroiled in a tussle with – you guessed it – Costa.
The 27-year-old was also caught up in controversy that day for an alleged elbow on Laurent Koscielny which earned him a three-match ban for violent conduct.
But the Spain international’s behaviour has somewhat mellowed since the arrival of Guus Hiddink, and he now has five goals from his last six shots on target.
SEE ALSO:
Influential Arsenal superstar insists that his future is with Gunners
Chelsea ready to sell £18m midfielder to fund late January business
Video: Riyad Mahrez with the assist of the season – chin up Mesut Ozil!