Diego Costa v Harry Kane: How the strikers measured up

Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Harry Kane of Tottenham have been two of English football’s main protagonists this season. But how did the pair fare during Sunday’s Capital One Cup final, won 2-0 by Chelsea? Threat (Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport) The combative Costa was in the thick of the action, exchanging pleasantries with Eric Dier, Nabil Bentaleb and Kyle Walker. Dier was booked for catching Costa late after 31 minutes and then caught the Spain striker with his follow through before the break but escaped a second yellow. (John Walton/PA) Chelsea were running scared after Kane tore them apart on New Year’s Day. He skipped by three Chelsea players before being tripped by Cesc Fabregas and was full of running, but the deep-lying Blues defence suffocated him. Interplay (Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport) Costa was at times isolated as Chelsea defended deep, with Blues defenders swarming around Kane as a result. Costa’s key action came after a fine pass from Fabregas. (Nick Potts/PA) Kane could not influence the game in the way he did two months ago at White Hart Lane, but he refused to give up and tried to drive Spurs forward till the end. Finishing (Nick Potts/PA) Costa had not scored in four games ahead of the Wembley clash. He will likely claim an end to the drought after his effort deflected in off Walker to beat Hugo Lloris at his near post, but it will go down as an own goal. (John Walton/PA) Kane, with six goals in previous four starts, had a poor effort from the right side of area easily held by Petr Cech early on, but no chances of note thereafter. Impact (Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport) Spurs refused to buckle to Costa’s physical power, but were undone for Chelsea’s second when the Brazil-born striker found space. Kane was tracked by at least two Chelsea defenders wherever he went, but may get another Wembley chance with England in the near future.

Source: SNAPPA