Guus Hiddink joked he and Diego Costa may need to go and see the film ‘Anger Management’ following the striker’s dismissal in Chelsea’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final loss at Everton.
A double from former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku sent Everton to Wembley, before Costa was sent off for a tussle with Gareth Barry in which replays suggested he may have bitten the midfielder.
Barry, who was booked for his part in the incident, later saw red for a foul on Cesc Fabregas, but it is Costa who will dominate the headlines after his latest moment of controversy.
Asked if Costa is in need of anger management, Hiddink replied: “There’s a film about that with Jack Nicholson. I’ve seen the film, maybe we go and watch it together.
“I haven’t seen it [the incident] so far, then I will give fair judgement. It’s difficult now for me to say yes or no in this incident. He was chased a bit in the game as well.
“They went after him, they knew it and it’s within the rules, but also as a referee you must protect a bit the situation, knowing and feeling the atmosphere when there are…a multitude of little provocations.
“Then comes the moment where I like to give judgement, but I haven’t seen it and I’m speculating.”
Pressed for his opinion on the matter, Everton manager Roberto Martinez said: I haven’t seen any footage. From where I was he moved towards his head towards Gareth Barry and, at that point, I just lost the eyesight of that action. I thought it was a second yellow straight away.
“I don’t think it was a key moment in the game. It was an emotional game and rightly so. You want to see players that are desperate to win a game for your team.
“Diego Costa had a fighting spirit, I would like to praise the referee [Michael Oliver], the way he handled those emotions.
“The sending off on Diego Costa was right, the sending off on Gareth Barry was right and he never allowed those emotions to stop the fluency of the game.
“I’m sure the two players just shook it off at the end of the game and there’s nothing to look back [on].”
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