DIEGO Costa is the perfect pantomime villain.

The Chelsea striker spends the whole performance deliberately winding people up and seeking a reaction but ends up getting his comeuppance at the end.

Take Saturday’s match against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Costa set out to get an opponent sent off, and succeeded when defender Gabriel took the bait and reacted to the provocation.

Yet that red card has since been overturned on appeal and instead Costa finds himself serving a three- match ban having been retrospectively punished for violent conduct in a separate incident with Laurent Koscielny.

It’s deliciously ironic.

Costa doesn’t help himself. The Spaniard stomps around the pitch like a spoiled brat throwing his weight around.

But he makes such a fuss about the slightest of reactions especially if someone dares invade his per - sonal space, it’s difficult to take him seriously.

He can dish it out but he can’t take it.

Despite his style of play being lauded by pundit Robbie Savage, who knows a thing or two about getting stuck into the opposition, Costa’s actions have now come back to bite him.

There is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned tussle between defender and attacker, but Saturday was nothing like a good old fash - ioned tussle.

Could you imagine if Costa had gone up against Martin Keown or Tony Adams at the peak of their Arsenal powers? I’d have paid to see that.

But if Costa continues in the pantomime villain role between the suspensions, I’ll settle for that in - stead.