Costa’s complete display

Diego Costa was the man of the match as Chelsea won 3-1 at Manchester City on Saturday. In this form, there’s every chance the striker will fire his team to the title, writes Adam Bate.

If told beforehand that the Premier League joint-top scorer would be sent off for a wild challenge in stoppage time, there would not have been too many who’d have put their money on Sergio Aguero to be the man to lose his head. And yet, so it proved.

It was Aguero who was guilty of lunging in on David Luiz after his Chelsea counterpart Diego Costa had already won the game for the visitors. Costa’s controlled aggression and relentless work was just too much for Manchester City. Not to mention his quality.

Costa’s brilliant finish gave Antonio Conte’s team the equaliser and it was his hold-up play, shrugging off the hapless Nicolas Otamendi, which helped set up Willian for what proved to be the winner. He’d been subbed before Eden Hazard’s third but by then the job was done.

“It’s very rare you see a truly brilliant centre-forward display but in this second half we’ve seen it,” Gary Neville told Sky Sports. “He was absolutely brilliant. He scored one goal and set up another. He took the game by the scruff of the neck and influenced it in a big way.”

There are quicker forwards than Costa and more cultured finishers. Some can be more creative, others might be bigger. But it’s difficult to think of a player who better combines the qualities …

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