Hapless Hull sunk by classy Costa
ANTONIO CONTE has had major problems with Chelsea’s defence, but the Italian should be very grateful he has Diego Costa at the other end.
As they made heavy weather of breaking down a Hull team, Costa was the game’s decisive figure, and this time for the right reasons.
The striker teed up Willian for the opener and then smashed home the second for his sixth goal of the season to settle matters.
It was vital that Chelsea returned to winning ways here after an awful September yielded one point out of nine.
The West London outfit had been dismantled in their previous game at Arsenal and Conte had a week to stew on that performance.
He made two big changes as Branislav Ivanovic and Cesc Fabregas were dropped while he switched to three central defenders.
Cesar Azpilicueta moved into one of the central roles, as summer signing Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses were brought in as wing-backs.
There were plenty of teething problems in the first 45 minutes, but they improved notably after half-time with Costa to the fore.
And it was just the response the Chelsea manager demanded.
“After two defeats, it is never easy,” he said. “I w as pl ea s e d wi t h the commitment of the players. We are working very hard, but we must follow this. It is fantastic for Diego that he has six goals but he has the opportunity in every game to score goals.
“It is important not only that he scored the goal but that he worked for the team. That is the most important thing. I am pleased for the players that we finished with a clean sheet.
‘‘It is not normal for us. In the last four games, we conceded two or three goals.” But their defence was almost breached inside the opening five minutes as Thibaut Courtois made a fantastic save to keep out Robert Snodgrass’ deflected free-kick.
A couple of efforts off- target from Willian were the sum total of the visitors’ early threat and Hull ended the half with Ryan Mason testing Courtois from 25 yards.
Chelsea were more purposeful after the restart and Eden Hazard jinked past a couple of men before hitting a rasping strike that David Marshall tipped over.
The pressure was increasing and it should have paid dividends with the opening goal.
Costa was put through and beat Marshall to the ball, but his goalbound shot was diverted on to the post by a fantastic defensive effort by a sliding Jake Livermore. And as the ball fell loose, N’Golo Kante really should have scored, but he shot over from eight yards.
However, they were not to be denied for much longer as two goals in six minutes won the game.
For the first, Costa won a good tackle against Curtis Davies and laid the ball off to Willian. The Brazilian cut inside and found the far corner with unerring accuracy. Then when Nemanja Matic’s shot was blocked in the area, Costa produced an emphatic finish that gave Marshall no chance.
This was a third straight defeat for Hull and caretaker boss Mike Phelan said: “My future will take care of itself. I am not in a position of panic or worrying too much about it.’’