Swansea City’s winning start to the season came to an end at Stamford Bridge this afternoon as Diego Costa netted a hatrick to cancel out John Terry’s early own goal.
Garry Monk set his side up with perfect balance early on as they harrassed and made it difficult for the hosts to maintain possession, but the Swans had no answers once Mourinho’s men got going.
He made just one change to the team that beat West Brom 3-0 a fortnight ago, as he was forced to leave Wilfried Bony on the bench after international duty and give Bafetimbi Gomis his first League start of the season.
It was rumoured that Diego Costa would also be on the bench after picking up a hamstring injury during his international duty, but he was fit to start and did plenty of damage throughout the 90 minutes.
Swansea City were able to have some good spells of possession early on, their passing was crisp, and the likes of Ki and Shelvey were able to get forward and beyond Chelsea’s midfield who were far too static early on.
After two half chances from Chelsea within the first minute or so, Routledge also gave the Blues a warning sign when he volleyed a shot just wide after a shot was headed into his path just inside the penalty box.
Routledge and Gomis had further opportunities for the Swans in what was a good early spell but that soon faded as Chelsea stepped up their game, pushed forward and put more pressure on Swansea’s defense and midfield.
As Mourinho’s side took control and continuously piled on the pressure and created chances, they finally found the back of the net directly from a corner. Diego Costa was given the space to head home from close range before the referee signalled the end of the first 45 minutes.
Jordi Amat picked up a yellow card and also conceded 1 or 2 other fouls and it was initially thought that the decision to take him off at half time was a precautionary one due to the booking, but it was later known that he picked up an injury and was forced off.
Federico Fernandez, after scoring for Argentina in their 4-2 win against Germany, came on to make League debut for the Swans. It wasn’t the best of debuts for the defender, as he saw the opposition score another three as they just couldn’t contain Chelsea and the pace and power they had with the likes of Costa, Fabregas and Hazard causing problems all day long.
11 minutes into the second half and Chelsea were in front for the first time in the match. Ivanovic and Fabregas linked up inside the box and Costa was waiting to find the net once again as the latter pulled the ball back for the striker to put his side in front.
Another 11 minutes passed and the game was out beyond doubt as Costa completed his hatrick. Chelsea’s onslaught continued and they looked like scoring with pretty much every attack. Their new starman pounced onto another chance when Ramires scuffed shot was put away by the 25 year-old. The Swansea defence stood like statues, but the striker was on his toes and put the shot away from close range.
The home fans had to wait 14 minutes for a fourth as substitute Remy, replacing Costa, found the far corner from Oscar’s square pass across the penalty area. The Swansea defence just gave the hosts far too much time and space on the ball inside the 18-yard box and they were punished by clinical finishing.
In contrast, Swansea City couldn’t take their chances when they came, giving them no chance of what was already a very slim chance of getting a point. Gomis should have scored on his League debut but wasted a chance when Routledge put him through on goal. The Frenchman lifted a shot over the goalkeeper but it bounced harmlessly wide.
Shelvey went through the middle to score a late consolation but the damage was done long before as once again Chelsea proved just why they are such strong favourites to win the title for the first time in 5 years.
Swansea can be proud of their efforts early on in the game but will be disappointed with some of the defending at times. Still, there were plenty of positives, they created enough chances to give them a chance of getting a point and Gomis also put himself about well even though he didn’t show a clinical edge in front of goal.
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