Video: Chelsea's Kurt Zouma calls teammate Diego Costa a 'cheat', corrects himself later

Kurt Zouma (R) branded Diego Costa a ‘cheat’ in a post-match interview

Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge over the weekend will be remembered more for Diego Costa’s antics on the pitch. The Blues striker first pushed Laurent Koscielny to the ground before getting Gabriel Paulista sent off after an altercation and repeated riling up of the Brazilian defender.

Kurt Zouma had scored the opening goal of the game and was interviewed by a BeIN Sports reporter after the game. After a couple of questions, she mentioned Costa and how Arsenal may have felt cheated after his questionable behaviour on the pitch.

“Of course, Arsenal will feel hard done-by. They will claim you should have had a player sent-off in Diego Costa but this is a player that's famed for riling other players isn't it? Are you surprised that they reacted in this way?”

Zouma responded and said Costa was always like that and he liked to ‘cheat’. “No, we're not surprised because we know Diego. Everyone knows Diego and this guy likes to cheat a lot and put the opponents out of his game, and that happened in the game.”

“He's a real nice guy in the life and we are very proud to have him.”

The remark came as a surprise to many watching the interview. Was a teammate genuinely saying Costa was a cheat?

After all, the Spanish striker had taken a swipe at Laurent Koscielny’s face before having a go at Gabriel. He was also involved with a physical altercation with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain which saw Jose Mourinho immediately haul him off before he was booked a second time.

Both Costa and Gabriel were charged by The FA while the clubs were also charged with failure to control their players. Twitter also had a field day

Zouma clears the air about ‘cheat’ remark

However, the 20-year-old French defender corrected himself soon after. “Sorry for any confusion. English is not my first language. I did not mean to accuse anyone of cheating,” he said, according to BBC.

A Chelsea spokesperson also made a statement on the matter: “It's harsh to take literally the words of a young player spoken in his second language immediately after a game.

“He is deeply upset his words have been used to attack a teammate and friend.”

---