Jose Mourinho defends Diego Costa's provocative play against Arsenal

Somehow, despite finding himself at the centre of many an altercation during Chelsea's 2-0 win over nine-man Arsenal on Saturday, Diego Costa exited the pitch in the 81st minute without having been called for a single foul.

There can be no denying that Costa's actions during the match called for some discipline. The most notable of instances on the day included Costa gouging and then swiping at Laurent Koscielny's face, before provoking Gabriel into a red card. Costa seemed to embrace the role of super-villain at the expense of a deflated Arsenal side that looked to be suffering from the lowest of morale.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expressed the sentiment of many after the match at the fact Costa was not given a red card. "He can do what he wants and he stays on," Wenger said, according to The Guardian. "Everyone else that responds to him has to be sent off. It's unacceptable. But he always gets away with it."

Of course, just because Wenger and many other observers saw things one way doesn't mean that Jose Mourinho felt inclined to support the public consensus. Speaking after the fixture, Chelsea's manager rushed to Costa's defense, as if to indicate that his player was a victim rather than an aggressor.

Upon being informed of Wenger's desire to get the Football Association involved because he believed Costa was stretching the rules, Mourinho seemed to snap. "Which rules (was he stretching)?" he retorted. "Your rules?"

A reporter then brought up Costa's imprudence, to which Mourinho replied: "I can guess when you were a kid you were playing badminton. He played like he has to play and that is why you have full stadiums and you can sell football to television around the world for millions and millions. Because the game has to be played like that, okay? Man of the match, for me."

For those wondering, Arsenal will host Chelsea in the reverse fixture on Jan. 23.