Costa fires Chelsea past Baggies

Chelsea have returned to the top of the table after a Diego Costa rocket helped them eventually break the resistance of West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

Looking to win an incredible ninth straight Premier League match, Antonio Conte’s side knew they would faced a tough task to do so with West Brom on a great run of their own, winning three of the last four and riding high in eighth spot.

With their wide-men assigned the task of tracking Chelsea’s wing-backs, and their full-backs tasked with following Pedro and Eden Hazard, the Baggies effectively had a back six in place when Chelsea attacked, time and space at a premium in the final third.

As a result chances were extremely difficult to come by, with David Luiz's free-kick the only shot on target the Blues had until Costa's moment of magic in the 76th minute.

Substitute Cesc Fabregas sent a hopeful ball into the channel for Costa to chase but Gareth McAuley was very much the favourite to clear it; however, the Northern Irishman misjudged the bounce and allowed Costa to nip in ahead of him and claim the possession, surging into the penalty area before unleashing a thunderous strike which gave Ben Foster no chance and flew into the top of the net.

The hosts had also come close to breaking the deadlock earlier on when N'Golo Kante's shot deflected off Pedro but the ball trickled just wide of the post.

Tony Pulis' side created only a few opportunities themselves, with their best efforts coming in the first half, Chris Brunt firing a fearsome effort just wide of Thibaut Courtois' right-hand post with the Chelsea goalkeeper relieved to see it fail to curl in past his despairing dive.

Salomon Rondon - impressive again in leading the line on his own while quite isolated from his team-mates - had the other best effort, bustling his way into the box before shooting across goal but the ball went a couple of yards past the far post.

However, it was Costa's brilliant strike which proved the difference to send Chelsea three points clear at the top of the table while West Brom miss the chance to move sixth, remaining in eighth position.

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