Guus Hiddink hailed Chelsea’s “spectacular” 1-0 victory at 10-man Arsenal and praised Diego Costa’s focus after the striker’s goal dented the Gunners’ Premier League title hopes and moved the champions seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Costa converted a pinpoint Branislav Ivanovic cross on 23 minutes to break the deadlock at Emirates Stadium, shortly after tempting Per Mertesacker into a rash challenge as the last man that earned the Arsenal defender a straight red card from referee Mark Clattenburg.
Chelsea failed to find a second goal but weathered spells of sustained Arsenal pressure after the break to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions since the departure of Jose Mourinho, and move up to 13th in the Premier League.
Asked by Sky Sports if he considered beating Arsenal away from home a spectacular result, Hiddink replied: “I think so. I’m proud of the guys who performed as they did. We had a good first half, we played well. In the second half we played OK, though I thought we could have materialised it more than we did.
“We played [well] for a big part of the game and we tried to defend forwards. When you come here and wait for them, they are so skilful you are beaten, so you have to take the initiative. We did that in a big part [of the game], some parts not and then they are dangerous.”
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