Diego Costa made a goal-scoring return as Premier League leaders Chelsea extended their lead at the top to eight points with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Hull City.
The Spain international, who had missed the 3-0 win against Leicester City last week, fired the Blues to the lead when he converted Victor Moses’ low cross from eight yards out in the first-half injury time. The visitors were playing well but the failure to turn their chances into goals was hurting them.
The Tigers began strongly after the break too as Antonio Conte’s men were finding it tough to break a resilient defense from Marco Silva’s men. But Gary Cahill put the game to the bed when he headed home Cesc Fabregas’ free-kick nine minutes from time.
The win will be a huge morale booster for the Blues who have grabbed the headlines in the last week for all the wrong reasons as their top-scorer Diego Costa was involved in a feud with a fitness coach, amid reports of Chinese Super League interest. But everything looks good now for the Stamford Bridge outfit which is set to face Liverpool and Arsenal in back-to-back league games
Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:
?of the Table ? by 8 CLEAR points …. ? ?⚽⚽⚽ @diegocosta @GaryJCahill @ChelseaFC ?? #cfc #chelsea #CHEHUL ??? #PremierLeague
— Michael Ballack (@Ballack) January 22, 2017
So Diego Costa celebrates his 100th game with a goal and Cahill does the same for his five years a Chelsea player this week. #CHEHUL
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 22, 2017
No doubt about it – Marco Silva can keep @HullCity in PL. No shame in losing to @ChelseaFC. Dominated them at times. #hcafc #CHEHUL
— Rob Ives (@Rob_A_Ives) January 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/ChelseaGIFs/status/823222766686105601
https://twitter.com/ConteTweets/status/823222059081809920
Chelsea going eight points clear, thanks to that goal from the man who has won it all with the club in five years: Captain Gary Cahill.
— Dan Levene (@danlevene) January 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/iChelseaTweets/status/823232964125290496
https://twitter.com/Adsalk/status/823237343406649344
https://twitter.com/ContehoIic/status/823238976337219586
10 points is a huge amount of points to make up on Chelsea. It's now a race to secure the top four, adding a cup would be lovely. #LFC
— Killmonger (@AntonClarke1) January 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/tosluk/status/823243014588006400
https://twitter.com/GabrielPaine/status/823243078744080385