Costa gives Conte the perfect start
Diego Costa swung a right boot in desperation. there was a minute to go, and Chelsea were on the brink. the ball travelled low, through the legs of James Collins. adrian saw it late. too late. in it went. the antonio Conte era was off to a flyer. and so was he.
Down the touchline he ran, high-fiving a row of outstretched hands. this is why the foreign coaches come. it’s not just the money. it’s the Premier League. Not the best, not the classiest — but there really is nothing like it.
should Costa have even been on the field? Well, that’s another story. Booked in the first half for dissent, he should have received a second yellow for a late lunge on adrian with 25 minutes to go.
anthony taylor, the referee who had seemed so strict in the first half, ducked it. it’s all well and good giving referees protection, but players need it, too.
Ultimately, the best team won, and Conte will be impressed with his side’s resolve. More worrying is that it took one West Ham attack to break them down. in the 77th minute, the visitors won a free-kick and, from it, a corner. and Chelsea cracked.
they had looked so comfortable, too. in control, West Ham at arm’s length. true, it had needed an horrendous mistake from Michail antonio and a penalty to give them the lead, but Chelsea were good for it. if there was to be a second goal in the game, it was going to the boys in blue.
and then Dimitri Payet came on, and changed the dynamic. suddenly, Chelsea looked less assured, vulnerable again, much like last season. West Ham won a free-kick, then another.
the second was in Payet’s range. stamford Bridge, for the first time, seemed subdued. He hit the wall, to a relieved cheer, but the ball went out for a corner. From there, calamity befell Conte’s men.
Payet took the corner which was met by Collins. His glancing header may have struck Cesar azpilicueta’s arm, but, as several West Ham players appealed, enner Valencia continued playing and clipped the ball back to Collins.
He shot, first-time, past thibaut Courtois, whose first touch of the game may well have involved picking it out. Collins celebrated deliriously, the travelling fans serenaded the ‘ginger Pele’. someone will have to explain it all to Conte later, when he has calmed down. they may have to explain that this is fairly standard for the Premier League too, because for a manager used to the order of serie a, it will take some getting used to.
good grief, it was frantic in the first half. a game of few chances but plenty of fury, and more than a few yellow cards.
No doubt emboldened by the Premier League’s new guidelines, referee taylor took few prisoners, much like the teams. the match was just three minutes in when Chelsea’s new signing N’golo Kante hacked down andy Carroll inside the West Ham half.
taylor produced a yellow card. Kante looked mystified. Could it be that we will be playing something akin to the rules of football in england this season?
West Ham were scrappy and tenacious, but, without Payet in the starting line-up and losing new signing andre ayew to a right leg injury after 34 minutes, posed little threat to the Chelsea goal early on. Chelsea had the best of the chances, but could not find a way through.
in the 12th minute, a delightful backheel from oscar found Branislav ivanovic on the overlap — unsurprisingly rid of the sluggishness that seemed to have affected him at the start of last season.
the serb cut inside Cheikhou Kouyate and hit a snap shot, forcing goalkeeper adrian to have his wits about him to keep it out.
eden Hazard hit a shot from 20 yards that flew over the bar after 14 minutes — a recklessness replicated by Costa shortly before half-time when put in by Hazard.
it was a fine run, speeding down the flank before darting inside and striking a low shot, curled towards the inside of the far post, fractionally overhit.
Within a minute of the restart, antonio had given away a dreadful penalty.
No doubt in taylor’s mind about his foul on azpilicueta. Hazard stepped up and smashed his shot high and straight into the roof of the net.
Costa, though, would take all the glory in the end.