Chelsea goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, has admitted that Diego Costa “exaggerates” the level of contact he receives from opposition players sometimes.
Courtois however praised Costa for keeping his temper in check during their 2-1 win at Stoke City on Saturday.
Costa got involved in a few tussles with Stoke defenders in the first half at the bet365 Stadium and was shown a yellow cared by referee Anthony Taylor for dissent.
This made manager Antonio Conte send Michy Batshuayi to warm up.
“They were very physical and it was hard to find our usual game,” Courtois said of Stoke.
“They tried to put our players out of the game by doing that. They know Diego doesn’t like it and he maybe starts to fight with people. Maybe they do this to get him a red card or something.
“In some moments maybe Diego exaggerates a bit as well, but I think most of the time they were hitting him quite well. After four or five 50-50 moments where the referee can whistle or not whistle, he gets a bit angry and gets a yellow card. So it’s important for him to stay calm and he’s developed that a lot this season.
“When they kicked him, he remained calm and that’s very good for us because in the worst case, he would have got a second yellow card and been out of the game. It’s a good job he remained calm and dealt with what happened to him and moved on.
“Diego is the type of guy who has a lot of energy and goes for every ball and he gets kicked as well. People know how he is as well and a lot of Stoke players got a yellow card for fouls on him. He was always calm and he does well for us.”
Costa has contributed 17 goals and five assists in 26 Premier League matches this season.
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