It did not take long for the familiar look of frustration to appear on his face.
As Chelsea fell behind to Arsenal and then conceded two more goals within the space of half an hour in the two teams’ clash at the Emirates Stadium last month, Diego Costa grew visibly and increasingly irritated, with Laurent Koscielny’s tight man-marking and the home crowd’s constant jeering only serving to exacerbate his exasperation.
There were times when it seemed like Costa’s annoyance might spill over, particularly when several appeals for a free-kick were waved away in the second half, but the striker just about managed to keep it together.
Despite that show of restraint, it would be erroneous to claim that Costa’s conduct has dramatically improved this term.
He probably should have been sent off in Chelsea’s opening game of the season for a late tackle on West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian when he was already on a yellow card, and he was also fortunate to avoid a red card in the 2-1 triumph against Watford a few days later.
Those two incidents may have involved a foul and a dive rather than an off-the-ball incident or moment of petulance, but the Spain international remains as irascible as ever. While it is only fair to also point out that he is probably the Premier League’s most provoked player, Costa still has plenty of work to do before suggestions of him being a bastion of fair play can be met with anything other than laughter.
It is testament to the talents of Costa, 28, as a centre-forward, then, that managers of the calibre of Diego Simeone, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have all concluded he is worth the hassle despite the extra baggage he inevitably brings.
That has been borne out at the start of the current campaign: Chelsea have struggled at times in the last couple of months, but things would have been a whole lot worse had Costa’s reported return to Atletico Madrid materialised in the summer.
The striker has found the back of the net on six occasions in his seven Premier League appearances to date – including winning goals against West Ham and Watford and the equaliser against Swansea City – and has proved a consistent danger to opposition defences with his powerful running and underrated link-up play.
With fellow forwards Willian and Eden Hazard not yet producing their best form on a consistent basis, Costa’s contributions have been even more essential to Conte’s men’s overall attacking output.
Chelsea’s No 19 looks revitalised following a troubled campaign last time out, when he was blamed by many fans as a key part of the then-champions’ slump in the first half of the season and the resultant removal of Mourinho from the Stamford Bridge dugout.
Although Costa did improve under interim manager Guus Hiddink, a return of 12 league goals for 2015/16 was a disappointment for a player who had struck a combined 47 for Chelsea and Atletico in the two previous years.
The fact that he is already halfway towards matching last term’s total is evidence enough of his revival, but Costa’s scoring figures do not tell the full story of his fine start to the season.
He is, after all, the type of frontman who can pose problems for centre-backs even when he is not directly threatening the goal, with his runs into the channels and ability to hold the ball up and bring teammates into play also important to Conte’s side’s approach.
Costa may be the Premier League’s pre-eminent villain, but it should not be forgotten that he is also one of the division’s leading strikers.
If Chelsea are to finish in the top four and secure a return to the Uefa Champions League next season, the Premier League’s current top scorer will be vital.
West Ham United missing a form striker
The intelligent movement, the early leap, the clean contact: it was, by any measure, the perfect header.
It was an important one, too, levelling the scores and ensuring Crystal Palace left Everton’s Goodison Park with a point immediately before the international break.
Christian Benteke’s calm celebration may not have showed it, but the Belgium international – who scored the fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history after just eight seconds in Gibraltar this week for Belgium – would have been delighted to take his club tally to three since swapping Liverpool for Palace in the summer.
All of his efforts so far have been with his head, including a last-minute winner against Sunderland and an early goal in the 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough.
That should not really come as a surprise: Benteke is one of the Premier League’s most skilled strikers in the air, while Palace’s style of play is based upon working the ball out wide and sending crosses into the box, something they have done more often than any other team in the top flight this term.
Benteke, 25, has provided the focal point Palace missed in 2015/16, when centre-back Scott Dann finished as his side’s joint-top scorer with five.
He certainly did not come cheap at £32 million (Dh143.4m) but Benteke already looks to be a fine signing, which makes it a little surprising that Palace’s opponents on Saturday, West Ham United, did not launch a more serious bid for his services in the close-season.
Slaven Bilic’s charges were linked with Benteke but ultimately decided to look elsewhere, acquiring Simone Zaza from Juventus for £24m in August instead.
The Italian was disappointing after coming off the bench against Middlesbrough last time out, a game in which winger Michail Antonio – who began the campaign playing at right-back – unsuccessfully led the line up top.
There are mitigating factors for West Ham’s recent problems at centre-forward, not least injuries to Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll, but the club’s fans could be forgiven for casting a few wistful glances at Benteke on Saturday.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
