Diego Costa Says He's 'Targeted' by Premier League Refs and Fans

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has a reputation for antagonising opposing players, and he regularly flirts with the line between what is and isn't accepted on the pitch. Despite that, the forward has criticised what he believes is unfair treatment in England.

In an interview with ESPN Brasil (via Goal) on Tuesday, Costa discussed how he feels constantly under the microscope:

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But I'll be honest, I am targeted here, by the referees, the people… if I do something, it's totally different than if any other players do. It needs to be seen, that people targeted me.

It's something I have to deal with, and I ask God that these things don’t disturb me and don't take the sequence of the games from me, which happens sometimes and gives me suspensions.

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Costa has missed 11 games for Chelsea through suspension since moving to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid in 2014, per Transfermarkt.co.uk.

He may well be correct in his belief that referees pay special attention to him during matches, but he largely brings the extra scrutiny on himself.

BBC Sport's John Stanton and Ashleigh Jackson looked at the numbers in January and found the idea that Costa is a "dirty" player has some merit:

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In a season and a half in England, Costa has twice been banned for incidents missed by the referee and, despite making relatively few tackles and conceding relatively few fouls, he's the most-booked striker in the Premier League in that period.

He also gets his bookings at a faster rate per foul than any other forward.

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The timing of Costa's comments is somewhat odd given he was lucky to escape without a second yellow card at least for his challenge on West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian on Monday night. Telegraph Football offered a look at the dangerous tackle:

Costa went on to score the winning goal in the Blues' 2-1 victory. West Ham manager Slaven Bilic was diplomatic after the game but argued the Spain international should've been sent off, per the club's Twitter account:

Of course, the irony for Costa is the behavior that courts increased attention is the same behavior that helps him be one of the best forwards in the Premier League.

NBC Sports' Joe Prince-Wright argued some of Costa's problems last season stemmed from him toning down his more unsavory traits:

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We saw that for most of last season as he battled back from injury, lost form and seemed to be holding himself back and pulling up the handbrake when going into challenges and making a general nuisance of himself. So often in 2015-16 he seemed to be shrugging his shoulders and sulking on the pitch as retrospective bans were handed to him and he felt like the victim. He scored 12 times in 28 PL appearances and there’s no surprise his dip in form coincided with Chelsea’s 10th place finish just a season after he played a pivotal role in their title win.

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Costa's comments on Tuesday will do little to impact how he's perceived by referees and football fans, and that's not necessarily a bad thing in the Premier League.

Having a small handful of pantomime villains such as the Chelsea forward makes for a much more entertaining spectacle.