Everton 2-0 Chelsea: Five Talking Points

Romelu Lukaku returned to haunt his former club Chelsea with two well-taken goals and send Everton to the FA Cup semi-finals. The brace from the Belgian forward helped the Toffees reach their second semis in a domestic cup this season, leaving Guus Hiddink’s men feeling the blues. The game, however, was marred by two red cards as Diego Costa and Gareth Barry were both sent off, making it a 10 on 10 affair.With a trip to Wembley secured, Everton will be hoping to go one better than their semi-final exit in the Capital One Cup this season. For Chelsea, however, this arguably represented their last chance of salvaging this season with a trophy. Now the Blues have nine games in the Premier League left to play, with Europa League qualification looking unlikely at the moment given their performance tonight and league position.Here are the five biggest talking points from the feisty encounter at Goodison Park this season.

#1 Does Diego Costa bite Gareth Barry?

Diego Costa didn't have the best of days at the park.

After entangling with Gareth Barry in the first half and earning a yellow card, Diego Costa was walking on a tightrope the whole game. After having further clashes with Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines where he wasn’t at fault, Diego Costa went close with Chelsea’s best chance when he rounded Robles but failed to put the ball in the net from a very acute angle.

Powerlessly watching on as his defence collapsed in the game, Diego Costa got visibly frustrated from a challenge from Gareth Barry. After a minor clash of heads, Costa looked like he was biting Gareth Barry. Costa attempted to make up with Gareth Barry later on with a hug, but referee Micheal Oliver had seen enough and cautioned both men, with Diego Costa being sent off for the first time in his Chelsea career much to amusement of the Goodison faithful.

1 - Diego Costa has received his first red card for Chelsea. Off.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2016

Notably, Gareth Barry did not react to any possible bite and did not appeal as such. Roberto Martinez and Guus Hiddink played down the incident after the match, chalking it up as emotions from a cup tie while Hiddink claiming he did not see the incident. However, if the FA deem it as a bite, retrospective action will be taken. The precedent to a bite is a 10 match ban given to Luis Suarez, that would rule Diego Costa out for the rest of the season and also the opening match of next season.