Mourinho plays down Costa row

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho sought to play down a half-time argument with Diego Costa during Tuesday’s 4-0 Champions League win over Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The striker and his boss engaged in an angry exchange of views as they headed towards the players’ tunnel at the break.

Costa was the wronged party in the first half’s major flashpoint, with Maccabi’s former Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim sent off for taking a crude hack at the Spain international.

Mourinho took issue with a lack of movement from his frontman during the opening 45 minutes but Costa completed the 90 after the Portuguese displayed a more tender side behind closed doors.

“I reacted. He did too,” Mourinho told a news conference.

“At half-time in the dressing room, a few kisses and a few cuddles. No problem.”

Gary Cahill opened the scoring for Chelsea after 20 minutes in Israel before a Willian free-kick and headers from Oscar and Kurt Zouma added gloss to the scoreline.

Costa ended a run of seven games without a goal for club and country as Chelsea beat Norwich City 1-0 on Saturday and he has four goals in 16 club appearances this season.