Kurt Zouma has moved to clarify comments made in a television interview immediately after Chelsea’s fractious victory over Arsenal on Saturday, in which he claimed Diego Costa “cheats”, by suggesting his team-mate merely likes to “put pressure on his opponents”.
Chelsea suggested the France centre-half had been left “deeply upset” when the quotes he had given to beIN Sports emerged on Monday. Zouma, who had scored his first Premier League goal in his side’s 2-0 win, had been asked about Costa’s performance that had so infuriated the visitors and their manager, Arsène Wenger.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Paulista had been dismissed for clashing with the Spain forward in first-half stoppage time, immediately after the striker had tangled with Laurent Koscielny. “Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponents out of his game, and that happened in the game,” said Zouma, whose English is impressive but is his second language. “He’s a real nice guy in the life and we are very proud to have him.”
Zouma took to Twitter to explain the comments. “Sorry for any confusion,” he wrote. “English is not my first language and I did not mean to accuse anyone of cheating. Simply to say Diego is a player who puts pressure on his opponents and who I have huge respect for.”
A Chelsea spokesman said: “It’s a bit harsh to take literally the words of a young player speaking in his second language immediately after a game. Kurt is deeply upset that his words have been used to attack a team-mate and a friend.”
The Football Association is expected to confirm on Monday whether Costa will face retrospective sanction for putting his hand in Koscielny’s face, and then swinging his left arm round to connect with the defender for a second time, in the clash which so incensed Gabriel.
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