Chelsea 4 Southampton 2
Chelsea: Hazard (5'), Cahill (45'+1), Diego Costa (53', 89')
Southampton: Romeu (24'), Bertrand (90'+4)
LONDON // Diego Costa did not get off to the best of starts on Tuesday night.
Having been left out of Antonio Conte’s starting XI for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur, the Chelsea striker was expected to deliver upon his return to the line-up against Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
But when he conceded possession with a couple of sloppy touches early on — moments which led to groans from sections of the home crowd — it looked like his recent struggles were set to continue.
The official line explaining Costa’s absence at Wembley was the need for rest ahead of the run-in, but it would have been hard for the Spain international to argue had Conte made it clear that his slump in form was the real reason behind Michy Batshuayi’s selection up front.
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After scoring 15 goals in his first 20 Premier League appearances of the campaign, Costa had contributed just two goals in 10 top-flight games prior to the Southampton clash.
The decrease in his output coincided with heavy speculation linking him with a mid-season move to the Chinese Super League. Having supposedly expressed a desire to depart, Costa was left out of the matchday squad for the 3-0 defeat of Leicester City in the middle of January, as the club made it clear that one of their prized assets was not for sale at any price.
The former Atletico Madrid man, who later admitted that he wanted to rejoin the Spanish club last summer, returned to the fold a few days later, but the incident seemed to have an adverse effect on his football.
For much of 2017, Costa has not operated with the same sharpness that characterised his displays in the first half of the season. All centre-forwards go through dry patches, of course, but the transfer speculation made it difficult to shake the feeling that this was a player who was no longer happy in his working environment.
Together with Chelsea’s sudden inability to keep clean sheets — Southampton’s two efforts mean they are now without a defensive shut-out in 11 league outings, the longest current sequence in the division — Costa’s lean spell in front of goal increased the pressure on the likes of Eden Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez to be decisive in the final third. With Tottenham having cut Conte’s men’s lead at the top to just four points, it was imperative that Chelsea took their chances when Southampton came to town.
Yet while the very opening exchanges on Tuesday suggested that things would continue in a similar vein for Costa, it did not take long for him to have an influence on proceedings.
Less than five minutes were on the clock when Hazard fired the hosts in front, with Costa’s hold-up play and cut-back just as important as the Belgian’s movement and finish. The pair continued to combine well for the remainder of first period, as Gary Cahill edged Chelsea back ahead shortly before the break following Oriol Romeu’s equaliser against his old employers.
Having been a provider early on, Costa turned predator after the interval, nodding Cesc Fabregas’ cross past Fraser Forster to double Chelsea’s advantage. It was his first goal in eight matches in all competitions and his 50th since joining the club in 2014.
More importantly, it put the game beyond a Southampton side who struggled to turn possession into clear-cut chances throughout.
He then added a fourth in the 89th minute, calmly slotting the ball home after a brilliant passing move also involving Pedro and Hazard. As well as helping Chelsea extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points, Costa’s two goals saw him move into third place in the Premier League scoring charts.
“It is normal for a striker. It is very important to score. The goal is your life,” Conte said of Costa post-match.
“But for me I was always very pleased with his commitment and his work for the team. Sometimes he was unlucky in difficult circumstances, but I was always confident about him.”
Despite the difficulties Costa has encountered in recent months, leaving him out of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final was a risk that could easily have backfired.
Instead, Conte’s decision has been fully justified — both by Chelsea’s defeat of Tottenham at Wembley and Costa’s two goals in victory here.
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