Swansea manager Garry Monk believes the way Ayew took his goal offers a sign of things to come from the Ghana midfielder.
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Courtois was given his marching orders after racing out to upend Gomis as he got on the end of another fine Shelvey pass, and the French striker picked himself to send Begovic the wrong way from the spot.
It was a memorable introduction but one cancelled out inside 100 seconds as Willian’s cross-shot looped in off Fernandez.
However, Swansea never allowed their belief to waver and were given encouragement by Montero’s complete dominance of Ivanovic, which ensured that Chelsea were unable to close the game down.
Left horribly exposed, Courtois was faced with Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis bearing down on him.
Then in the dying stages of the game, Ashley Williams clashed with Diego Costa on the edge of the box but nothing was given – exasperating the Blues boss. Good fortune deserted Chelsea and their Belgian keeper, who was sent off by referee Michael Oliver for clattering the forward to the ground.
Ashley Williams: Swansea’s captain led by example against the reigning champions.
Chelsea was opening the defense of its league title with a home game against Swansea in the day’s late kickoff.
New signing Yohan Cabaye netted Palace’s third on a counterattack in stoppage time. A composed drag-back and finish earned him a debut goal at the second attempt, which was no small feat as he was being challenged and blocked by John Terry. They’ll say: ‘Look, we can compete with the best sides and the league champions.’. “He’d had a knock, he was very exhausted and my medical department in their impulse were naive and left me with eight outfield players, and in a counter-attack after a set piece we were with two players less”.
On the penalty and sending off, Monk added: “From where I was sat it is what it is”.
The place to go for goals was Leicester, where former Chelsea coach Ranieri made an ideal start to his return to the league after an 11-year absence.
“You look at the positives from it. I thought we were on top if anything”.
Chelsea’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois leaves he pitch during the…
Courtois will also serve a suspension for the red card. First half I think high quality, with 10 men we fought hard.
“I wasn’t very happy with my medical staff because you have to understand the game”, Mourinho told Sky Sports.
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Costa, who scored 20 league goals last season, missed the 1-0 Community Shield defeat by Arsenal at Wembley Stadium last weekend and sat out the club’s final pre-season friendly at home to Fiorentina on Wednesday.
