New Delhi: Diego Costa, for all his histrionics, is still a human being. He is known for kicking, shoving and even head-butting his rivals on the field. But on Saturday, he seemed to have done the unthinkable. Biting!
Yes, there's a certain Luis Suarez for reference. However, the Uruguayan has seemingly become a rather lovable character since his move to Barcelona. But Costa's indiscretions, on the contrary, have only increased.
Yesterday night, the Spaniard was sent off in the 84th minute for his second booking, and his second crime was 'biting' Everton midfielder Gareth Barry, as the following video seemed to suggest, too.
Diego Costa Gareth Barry pic.twitter.com/wOebQFja4B
— The Soccer Life (@TheSoccerLifee) March 13, 2016
But Barry stated on Sunday that Chelsea striker did not bite him during their 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory yesterday at Merseyside.
"Seen a lot of talk about the incident involving me and Diego Costa in the game last night," Barry wrote on the Fanzai app. "For the record Diego did not bite me."
The former Atletico Madrid player first leant his head into Barry's face, then lowered his mouth the Everton player's neck and made as if to bite. But the pair ended up embracing each other.
Ironically, Barry himself was sent off moments later after being shown a second yellow card for a kick on Cesc Fabregas.
Meanwhile, Chelsea released a statement after the incident claiming that Costa had "expressed regret", but was adamant that he had not bitten Barry.
"Diego spoke to club officials after the game and expressed regret over his reaction to the challenge from Gareth Barry that led to his red card," said a Chelsea statement on Twitter.
"But Diego was also very clear that he did not bite him at any point during that altercation," it added.
Everton won the match 2-0 thanks to a brilliant late brace from former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.
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