Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma brands Blues bad-boy Diego Costa a "cheat"

Zouma made the remarks to beIN Sports who interviewed him after the game.

BeIN Sport’s Carrie Brown asked: "Of course Arsenal will feel hard done-by, they will claim you should have had a player sent-off in Diego Costa but this is a player that's famed for riling other players isn't it? Are you surprised that they reacted in this way?"

Zouma replied: “No, we're not surprised because we know Diego. Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponent out of his game.

“That happened in the game but he's a really nice guy. We're proud to have him, like the other players, and we're happy to win this game today.”

The remarkable comments may only put pressure on the FA to charge Costa if referee Mike Dean admits he did not see the full incident and the bust-up between the Spain striker and Gabriel and Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

Costa will learn his fate later today as to whether he will be charged by the FA.