Mourinho defends Costa after ‘stamp’ against Liverpool, striker may miss City clash

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, has leapt to the defence of Diego Costa, after the controversial striker appeared to stamp on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel, in their Capital One Cup semi-final victory over Liverpool on Tuesday.

Costa could yet face a FA ban and miss this Saturday’s home fixture against Manchester City, after TV cameras caught him stamping on Can and later Skrtel. The Spain international also clashed with Reds captain Steven Gerrard in the game.

However, Mourinho has defended Costa’s style, saying: “He goes to the ball, he chases it, the opponent goes to the floor and he puts his foot there when he is looking at the ball.”

The Blues boss also repeated that there was a campaign against his team by a Sky pundit, believed to be Jamie Redknapp.

“I don’t know what you understand by a stamp,” he said. “Maybe you are already influenced by the campaign on the television with certain pundits saying Costa has committed a crime — the guy who says that must be nuts.

“It is a great campaign. We know how much that pundit loves Chelsea. You are a manager, on the bench, and these guys have a good seat, earning a lot of money, no pressure.

“They are never wrong, they have to be fair and they have to be honest.”

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