Mertesacker reveals how Arsenal ‘double act’ kept Costa quiet

Joe Williams

Per Mertesacker has revealed how his “double act” with Rob Holding helped keep Chelsea star Diego Costa at bay during Arsenal’s FA Cup final win on Saturday.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey helped the Gunners to victory during an impressive performance against the Premier League champions.

Diego Costa scored the Blues’ only goal of the match, however he was very quiet for much of the game and Mertesacker puts it down to a good cop-bad cop routine from himself and Holding.

“We went to work on Diego Costa,” Mertesacker told reporters.

“Rob was giving him a really hard time. I kept patting him on the back, being friendly, while Rob kept on talking to him. A good double act. It was very exciting to see how quickly things can turn.

“What was really important was that we kept on running with Costa, to make sure those long balls didn’t get to him.

“We were prepared for that. Especially when Fabregas came on, we were ready to run back to cut out those long balls over the top that he plays.

“You have to say it couldn’t have gone much better for us. The team’s performance was incredible. I don’t know how many would have expected that.”