Wolves beat Chelsea 1-0 yesterday in the Premier League – and after the game, former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop made a somewhat harsh remark about Diego Costa.
Julen Lopetegui’s side took all three points, courtesy of an amazing goal by Matheus Nunes.
The 24-year-old lashed in an effort from a tight angle on the half-volley in the first-half.
It was a wonderful hit, and a goal worthy of winning any game.
Wolves were at the races from the first whistle at Molineux.
It was as though the threat of relegation suddenly became very real, and everyone was determined to do something about the situation.
They out-fought Chelsea and played better football than them.
And this brilliant performance was achieved without Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Jimenez’s omission came as quite the surprise. Lopetegui said that he and Ait-Nouri were both left out for tactical reasons.
Leading the line for Wolves yesterday was Costa, which some people did predict considering Chelsea are his former club.
And he did a great job, before being replaced by Hwang Hee-chan midway through the second-half.
Costa has been coming in for praise from many Wolves fans since yesterday’s game.
And those fans likely won’t be too happy with a comment Hislop made yesterday on the ESPN UK YouTube channel.
He said: “Former Chelsea player Diego Costa, he’s nobody’s answer for anything. But at least, he was a little bit of a battering ram for Wolves.
“He put himself about. He engaged with the Chelsea defence and made a bit of a physical battle. So at least there was some value to him being on the park, which you can’t say for Kai Havertz or so many of Chelsea’s attacking players.
Shaka Hislop comment about Diego Costa is harsh and lazy
Hislop’s first comment about Costa is definitely harsh.
While Wolves fans would have expected him to have scored a couple of goals by now, he has definitely played his part in helping Wolves move up the table.
When Costa plays, you can see the passion and the fight.
Those things were sorely lacking prior to his arrival. It was one of the reasons Wolves were right at the very bottom of the table.
By many accounts, he has been brilliant behind the scenes and is a really popular figure.
Everyone looks up to him, and just today Hwang Hee-chan referred to him as ‘big legend’ on Instagram.
Hislop has suggested he hasn’t been any good for Wolves. But that is a lazy assessment likely formed because he hasn’t scored a goal yet.
The £50,000-a-week star has put in great displays here and there, like yesterday against Chelsea and the weekend before against Nottingham Forest and against Southampton in February.
It is a shame that Hislop felt the need to make such a remark, and strange he made it after one of his best performances for Wolves.