as Chelsea came from behind to draw 2-2 against Swansea
City at the Liberty Stadium.
The Spain striker gave the Blues the lead in the first half
with a cool, side-footed shot and his second goal was a
spectacular overhead kick.
Swansea had turned the game on its head inside three
second-half minutes when Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut
Courtois brought Gylfi Sigurdsson down inside the penalty
area and the Iceland midfielder converted the spot-kick
himself, before Leroy Fer robbed Gary Cahill of possession and
put Francesco Guidolin's side into the lead.
But Costa, whose afternoon was characterised by his
trademark theatrics, heavy challenges and disputes with
opponents, made sure the Londoners claimed a point. Whether
he should have been on the pitch is another matter after a
lame dive when challenged by Lukasz Fabianski having
already been cautioned.
The result ended Chelsea's 100 per cent start to the season
and denied them the opportunity to join Manchester City
at the top of the table, while Swansea ended a run of two
consecutive league defeats.
Antonio Conte opted not to start new signing David Luiz in
his back four as Chelsea named an unchanged line-up for the
first time since February, while Guidolin lined up with a
three-man defence and Fernando Llorente as a lone striker.
Five minutes into the game, Willian rattled a shot at goal
after being teed up neatly by N'Golo Kante and Fabianski
was rocked by the power of the shot as he saved it with his
fists.
Fabianski preserved parity for Swansea again after 10
minutes, stretching to prevent Willian's dangerous whipped
cross from the right from reaching the onrushing Costa.
Swansea were enjoying the majority of the early possession
but their gameplan was disrupted when Federico Fernandez's
header dropped at the feet of Oscar and he squared the ball
to Costa who side-footed it into the bottom corner.
Chelsea surged forward again and the in-form Eden Hazard
split the Swansea defence with a run that put him clean
through on goal, but Fabianski did well to save his low
drive.
The home side's best chance came when Llorente laid the ball
off for Sigurdsson, who bent a shot narrowly wide of Thibaut
Courtois' goal, and Costa should have made it 2-0 when he
failed to turn John Terry's cross into an open net from close
range.
Willian flashed a shot just wide of the post early in the
second half and Chelsea seemed set to dominate proceedings
as Costa and Hazard led a series of fast attacks, but a
mistake by Courtois allowed Swansea back into the match.
Sigurdsson powered his way into the box and the
Belgium goalkeeper attempted a slide tackle but clumsily
brought the midfielder down. Sigurdsson slammed the penalty
down the middle, giving Courtois no chance to redeem
himself.
Three minutes later, referee Andre Marriner adjudged Fer to
have robbed Cahill cleanly and he stabbed the ball
past Courtois and into the net.
With Swansea heading for a memorable victory, Chelsea laid
siege to Fabianski's goal and, after Branislav Ivanovic's shot
was blocked, Costa's acrobatic finish levelled the match.
Costa almost wrapped up a man-of-the-match performance
with a hat-trick when he was put through by Hazard but
Fabianski was equal to his shot and the points were shared.
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