Chelsea responded instantly and should have doubled their lead, with Costa missing a far easier opening than the one he had converted earlier, shooting wide of an open goal from a Willian corner.
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Conte was becoming exasperated by Chelsea’s failure to convert from promising positions and Swansea made them pay.
It was the third time in four matches the Spaniard had scored a brace against Swansea, and he was the quintessential pantomime villain in another Premier League drama.
Terry had a hard afternoon at the back as the Swans came from behind to lead 2-1 in the second half, only to be pegged back in the final 10 minutes by Diego Costa who scored a brace in South Wales.
Chelsea also began the second half on the front foot as Willian cut in from the right, and saw his left foot effort narrowly evade both Hazard and the back post.
The Blues continued to press and they were rewarded on 81 minutes when Costa struck from close range with a scissors-kick after Branislav Ivanovic’s initial shot had been deflected into his path. I took the touch away from him, he came through the back of me.
“It is a good result against a very strong Chelsea team”.
Swansea manager Francesco Guidolin echoed his opposite number’s support for Costa and praised his attitude.
Manager Francesco Guidolin changed tactics from a misfiring 3-5-1-1 system before halftime, withdrawing the disgruntled Welsh worldwide Neil Taylor for Gambian winger Modou Barrow. I could, I can, I should have waited three minutes.
In his post-match press conference, Swansea boss Guidolin said: “It was a very hard game for us and Chelsea are a very strong team”.
On Taylor’s reaction to being substituted, Guidolin added: “He’s a good guy”. We spoke in the dressing room and there’s no problem.
“I spoke with my assistants, with Alan as well, and we agreed it was the moment to change something. I had to change something”.
The Blues couldn’t maintain a 100% win ratio in the new season as they were held to a 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium, (no) thanks to some defensive errors from Courtois and Cahill. “Tomorrow we will see the situation about his ankle, but he is a warrior”.
‘If I’d waited until the break, it might have been better for him.
“We can play again with this shape because, in my opinion, we played well in the first 20 minutes before the first Chelsea goal”. You could be sat on the moon, the top of the stand, anywhere in the stadium, you can see that’s a clear foul for me.
“Also I want to say that after every game you ask me about the passion of Diego Costa”.
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“It’s incredible the defender didn’t finish [with a red card] before the [end of the] match”.
