Neither Chelsea or Swansea could be split on an enthralling afternoon of Sunday action.
Chelsea took the lead through Diego Costa, after Swansea City failed to clear a cross from Branislav Ivanovic, Oscar laid the ball off to Costa who finished well from the edge of the box. Swansea equalised through a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty, after he dusted himself off as Thibaut Courtois brought down the midfielder.
Leroy Fer put the Swans ahead minutes later, tackling last man Gary Cahill and just about finished past the goalkeeper. Costa then spectacularly equalised with ten minutes left, scoring an overhead kick following Ivanovic’s deflected shot.
Chelsea ahead at the break
Costa was involved in his usual antics early on, colliding with Jordi Amat and was down injured. Chelsea started well, as Willian dribbled past Jack Cork and struck a powerful shot that was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski. Swansea generally performed well in their new three-at-the-back system early on, but struggled to create much in the final third.
Costa put Chelsea ahead after 17 minutes, as Ivanovic’s cross flied up in the air, Fabianski decided against collecting the ball. Federico Fernandez’ header then fell to Oscar, who found Costa and his strike put Chelsea 1-0 up.
Chelsea then continued to dominate, as Eden Hazard dribbled past three players and almost doubled the away side’s lead if not for Fabianski’s fine save. The game should have been out of sight in the first half, as Chelsea had 14 shots in the first 45 minutes.
The best chances came to Costa, he met John Terry’s flick on at the far post but was unable to connect well with the ball as he missed the effort from five yards.
Manager Francesco Guidolin abandoned the new three-at-the-back system after 43 minutes, subbing Neil Taylor off for Modou Barrow. The Welshman wasn’t pleased with the change and exchanged heated words with his boss.
Swansea turn things around, but let three points slip away
Chelsea started the second half well, Hazard almost met Willian’s low drive at the far post but couldn’t quite connect to make the scoreline 2-0. Amat could have been sent off before an hour was played, after making foul after foul on Chelsea players, especially Costa who really did get the better of the defender this afternoon.
Completely against the run of play, Swansea broke on the counter as Modou Barrow crossed to Sigurdsson. The midfielder then rounded the goalkeeper who brought Sigurdsson down for a penalty.
Sigurdsson’s goal was his 26th in the league for Swansea, making him Swansea’s top scorer in the Premier League, eclipsing Wilfried Bony’s total. Minutes later, Fer probably did foul Cahill in an attempt to win the ball, the referee didn’t blow his whistle as the Dutchman advanced towards the goal and just about got the ball past Courtois.
Chelsea were then through on goal, but Fabianski managed to tackle both Hazard and then Costa as he somehow prevented a second Chelsea goal. Fabianski then made an outstanding save from a curling effort Oscar struck from 20 yards. He was Swansea’s star man through the opening three games and it’s no wonder why.
The Swans were made to withstand serious pressure late on, as Oscar dragged a shot wide in the 78th minute and two minutes later he also put a free header over the bar.
Costa came back again to haunt Swansea, his overhead kick did touch Fernandez before hitting the back of the net but there was simply too much power on the strike, would be harsh to blame the defence for that goal.
The Spanish striker almost had a hat-trick, if not for another superb save from Fabianski as Chelsea broke away on the counter with five minutes left. The ball then broke to Fer again in the opposition box, but he wasn’t able to get it under control and get a shot away.
Swansea almost had a penalty in stoppage time, as Ki was brought down by Cesc Fabregas but the referee deemed there not to have been enough contact to point to the spot. The result keeps Chelsea in 2nd place on 10 points, while Swansea climb above Leicester to 13th place.