EPL Gameweek 4: Sunday Football, Swansea vs Chelsea — As it happened...
Despite the draw, Chelsea continue to occupy second spot in league table with 10 points, two behind leaders Manchester City.
A thoroughly absorbing match at the Liberty Stadium ended with the two teams sharing the spoils. Diego Costa gave Chelsea the lead with a clinical finish, then two minutes of madness from the Blues backline allowed the Swans to take the lead. But it all came to Costa to settle the score, with a brilliant overhead kick. And a typical, frenetic Premier League match for all.
Despite the draw, Chelsea continue to occupy second spot in league table with 10 points, two behind leaders Manchester City.
ALSO READ: MATCH REPORT HERE
Swansea move to 13th spot, with 4 points.
FULL-TIME Swansea 2-2 Chelsea. Diego Costa's double ensures the spoils are shared in a pulsating match #SWACHE pic.twitter.com/VWYMgh3aAL
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 11, 2016
Second-Half: Swansea (Sigurdsson 60' ; Fer 62') 2 - 2 (18', 81' Costa) Chelsea
90+4' - Anxious moments for Chelsea as Swansea made a last gasp attempt to find their own winner.
Then, Eden Hazard tackled a Swansea player. Free kick to Swansea, and John Terry on the floor, forced a brief stoppage.
The final whistle came when Swans were making a desperate move.
90+2' - Chelsea continued to push for the winners, and N'Golo Kante linked up with Branislav Ivanovic as the visitors dominated the game in the dying minutes.
Then, a relatively quiet John Terry was booked for his attempt to cut short a Swansea counter.
89' - SUBS. Angel Rangel on for Gylfi Sigurdsson; and for Chelsea, Oscar made way for Michy Batshuayi.
Then, on a swift counter attack, Eden Hazard found himself committing a professional challenge. BOOKED.
And FOUR MINUTES ADDED.
87'- Two heroic challenges from Gary Cahill to deny Swansea a possible third goal. It was indeed a brilliant move from the Swans, but Fernando Llorente shot only hit Cahill for a rebound for another Swansea attack. Cahill quick on his feet, blocked the shot again.
84'- Once again, after a swift Swansea move, Chelsea got the counter moving, with Eden Hazard in the heart of the action. The Belgian waited for his kick, but instead, released it for Diego Costa.
The former Atletico Madrid star's attempt from the left was blocked by Swansea goalie.
82'- GOAL!! Diego Costa's persistence paid off. A scrambled effort from Chelsea involving at least five players inside the box, and Costa producing a scissor kick for his second goal.
79'- Chelsea continued to press hard for the equaliser, and Oscar once again produced an attempt, only to miss the target on left post.
Then, in a quick followed up action after few exchanges, Diego Costa got himself into a promising position. But his header missed the target.
77'- Double sub for Chelsea. Cesc Fabregas on for Nemanja Matic, and Victor Moses for Willian.
76'- Eden Hazard delayed the ball and lofted it for Diego Costa on the other side of the goal. Costa, jumping high, knocked out a Swansea defender and free-kick to the home side.
The old 1-2... There were 130 seconds between Swansea's 1st and 2nd goals #SWACHE pic.twitter.com/hCnu7Wleun — Premier League (@premierleague) September 11, 2016
74'- Chelsea won a free-kick just outside the Swansea box. Willian took the free-kick, only to see the ball cleared away.
72'- In the last five minutes or so, Swansea have taken the game to their more illustrious rivals. But Chelsea have managed to create openings every now and then.
70'- With one goal lead, Swans have gained the confidence to roll the ball in park. Fernando Llorente, making good use of his physicality, control the ball near the near corner, and rolled back to ball to one of his team-mates for a probing move.
68'- N'GoloKante, previously with the champions Leicester, made a tackle giving away a free-kick to Swansea. He's quiet so far, today.
65'- The complexion of the match changed in two minutes, thanks to two huge mistakes from Chelsea players.
Chelsea then launched a good attack with Eden Hazard making Diego Costa go for a one on one with Swansea goalie. But a timely tackle denied them. And Costa was not happy, for he didn't get the call from the referee.
63'- GOAL!!! Then, Swansea took the lead with a rampaging Leroy Fer scoring another goal after robbing Gary Cahill of the ball.
61'- GOAL!! And at the hour-mark, Swansea levelled the score with a conversion from the spot, by Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Iceland player was the one Thibaut Courtois knocked down for that penalty.
59'- Chelsea won a corner from a move involving Willian and Eden Hazard. The Brazilian took the corner, then Swansea managed to clear the ball.
Then, referee Andre Marriner was forced to do a talk with Swansea defenders as Chelsea won another free-kick.
Oscar's delivery was headed away, which resulted to a quick counter attack. And PENALTY to Swansea for high boot by Thibaut Courtois. BOOKED.
55'- Kyle Naughton produced a good volley, from a cross, but it missed the target. Then Diego Costa attracted referee's attention.
53'- Brilliant move from Eden Hazard, but his neat pass failed to find a team-mate as the ball rolled across the Swansea goal-mouth.
52'- Once back on the ground, Diego Costa managed to invite another challenge, earning another free-kick. Jordi Amat the culprit.
50'- The goal-scorer then got up and after an assessment from Chelsea physios, he got on to the boos of the Liberty Stadium crowd.
47'- Second half action started with Chelsea pressing for an early goal, with Eden Hazard getting a free run inside the opponent half.
Then, a yellow card to Jordi Amat for a tackle on Diego Costa, who took some time 'RELAXING' on the ground.
The visitors on top, but it's only Diego Costa's goal which separates the sides at the break #SWACHE pic.twitter.com/muarbSslga — Premier League (@premierleague) September 11, 2016
First-Half: Swansea 0 - 1 (18' Costa) Chelsea
45+2' - Another end-to-end moves from either side, then half-time whistle.
45+1' - Chelsea got a corner from that Diego Costa attempt, but after few end-to-end exchanges Nemanja Matic found himself alone against two defenders, but the flag was already up.
44' - Chelsea got another good chance, only to see Diego Costa's attempt cluttered in the crowded defence.
Amidst the boos, Costa continued to make inroads. And 2 MINUTES ADDED.
43' - Another yellow card, this time for Swansea defender Federico Fernandez. Then a SUB for the home team. Neil Taylor off, Gambian Modou Barrow on.
41' - Time for a yellow card for Diego Costa, for his foul on Leroy Fer. Good team. And the Brazilian-born continued to make noise.
40' - Trickey play from Chelsea frontline. Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard combined well, making small tidy passes just outside the Swansea box.
But a quick counter attack from the home side kept Chelsea defence sincere.
Then, Gylfi Sigurdsson made a valiant attempt from just outside the box and , it missed the target by whisker.
38' - Swansea won a croner from a good move with as Fernando Llorente got a lucky deflection. A quick corner and Swansea covered some grounds to have a go at Chelsea goal.
Finally, after few more moves, Chelsea got their own move working.
35' - Ambitious kick from Cesar Azpilicueta, trying to beat Swasea keeper in zero angle. But a corner for the effort.
Swansea pulled back the ball, after a quick short corner. From the following play, Nemanja Matic earned a free-kick at a dangerous spot just near the far corner, thanks to yet another from an already-booked Leroy Fer.
33' - Poor play from Willian and Branislav Ivanovic, after the Brazilian produced a free near the Swansea box. His pass to the Serbian missed, and throw-in to Swansea.
31' - Diego Costa and Jordi Amat tackle once again involved in a tussle as they fought for a throw-in, which Swansea won. But Swansea soon lost the possession.
28' - Typical Diego Costa reaction, hands rising, to a Jordi Amat tackle.
28' - Oscar joined Chelsea defence as Swansea created a good move. The Brazilian made at least couple of high ball clearance.
26' - And the first Yellow card to Leroy Fer, for a sliding tackle on Diego Costa.
25' - Swansea increased the tempo, but lost possession in the centre. Then few loose balls followed, and Swans earned a throw in inside the Chelsea half on the left.
Willian came to Chelsea's rescue, mopping up.
23' - Eden Hazard, once again, produced a similar run from the left flank, and linked up with Oscar. The Brazilian produced a long ranger, but a deflection from Swansea defender resulted it into another corner.
Then another corner for Chelsea.
Moments ago, Swansea got a good run. But an alert Thibaut Courtois came forward to clear the ball, which resulted in the Hazard run.
21' - What a run from Eden Hazard. The Belgian make a mockey of Swansea defence, but his final kick could only result in a corner.
Oscar quickly took the corner, but it was cleared.
18' - GOAL!! Then, out of nowhere Diego Costa hit a clean strike to beat Lukasz Fabianski on the left to give Chelsea an unexpected lead.
17' - Sung-Yong Ki earned a free-kick just in front of Chelsea box, thanks to a late tackle from Cesar Azpilicueta. But direct attempt from Gylfi Sigurdsson failed to hit the target.
15' - Eden Hazard's delivery from the corner directly went to Swansea golie Lukasz Fabianski.
14' - Swansea on with another attacking move, but Chelsea managed to win another corner from a swift counter attack.
12' - Good body check from Fernando Llorente against Gary Cahill as Swansea got the ball back in the centre.
11' - After a frenetic clearance from Chelsea, Swansea lost the momentum, allowing the visitors to create their own chance.
9' - Gylfi Sigurdsson at the helm as Swansea enjoyed a good period of play, building an attack.
8' - Untidy. Leroy Fer's tackle on Nemanja Matic resulted in a free-kick, for Chelsea, inside the Swansea half.
But, nothing came of the effort. And goal kick to Swansea.
6' - And soon, the first corner kick of the match to Chelsea. However, Oscar's delivery failed to create further opening. Good defensive work from the Swans.
3' - Quick attack from Chelsea, but Nemanja Matic found himself adjudged offside.
1' - Swansea started the proceedings from the centre.
Here are the teams:
Here's how the #Swans will line up against @ChelseaFC this afternoon... pic.twitter.com/MymRiLuP4t — Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) September 11, 2016
Chelsea team v Swansea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Kante; Willian, Oscar, Matic, Hazard; Diego Costa. #CFC — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 11, 2016
Yesterday, it was about the Manchester derby. Pep Guardiola's City trumped Jose Mourinho, and Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham also won their respective matches.
ALSO READ: SATURDAY REPORT
And today, Chelsea will take on Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium knowing a win for the Blues would put them level on points with Manchester City after their 2-1 win yesterday.
Antonio Conte's side has all three league matches so far, but the Swans have registered only one win in three games.
Conte will once again rely on the services of talismanic Eden Hazard, who has found a new lease of live under the new manager. So thus Diego Costa and young Michy Batshuayi.
And the presence of back come-back boy David Luiz will make the team stronger.
On the other hand Guidolin Francesco has found it tough. After the opening day win over over Burnley, Swansea have suffered back-to-back defeats to Hull City and champions Leicester.
To make things worst, their record signing Borja Baston is yet to fully recover from his thigh injury.
New Delhi: Welcome to our live coverage of English Premier League 2016-17 Gameweek 4, Sunday football with Chelsea travelling to Swansea.
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