Former Chelsea star Diego Costa has come back to haunt Arsenal again, this time in the jersey of Atletico Madrid.
Atletico defeated Arsenal 1-0 through Costa’s goal during their Europa League semi-final second leg against the Gunners at the Vicente Calderon on Thursday. The result meant that the Spanish side progress to the final 2-1 on aggregate.
The result also means that Arsene Wenger will end the final season of his 22-year stint as Arsenal manager without winning a trophy, as well as without ever having won a European tournament. Prior to the Europa League semi-final, Costa had scored three times during his previous six appearances against Arsenal. All those goals came while he was wearing a Chelsea shirt.
This marked the first time that Costa faced off against Arsenal as an Atletico player as he was an unused substitute during the first leg at the Emirates last week, which ended 1-1.
Winning the Europa League this season would have been the perfect way for Arsenal to send off Wenger after he led the club for more than two decades. However, due to Costa’s goal, last season’s FA Cup will mark the final trophy that Wenger will ever win with the Gunners.
i really want Diego Costa to be assigned permanently to whichever team Arsenal are playing against. he's so perfect for them, like some sort of star-crossed murder pirate
— Graham MacAree (@MacAree) May 3, 2018
Although he has been criticised immensely for the way in which he has managed the club during recent years, Wenger has won three FA Cups during the last four years as well as three Premier League titles. While one can argue that he should have stepped down a few years ago, the Frenchman will go down as one of the most consistent managers in Premier League history.
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