Chelsea increased their lead at the top of the Premier League this past weekend with an impressive 2-0 victory against Hull City. On his 100th appearance for the club, Diego Costa found the back of the net for the 15th time this season, providing the perfect response to the recent transfer rumours surrounding his future at the club.
Praise for Costa
Thibaut Courtois had another excellent game for Chelsea, making several important saves throughout the game as he continues to prove he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but the shot-stopper was particularly impressed with the way Costa applied himself during the game. Despite all the speculation regarding his future, Courtois claimed that the striker has just been "calm" and spent the week "working hard in training" which he felt that he "showed in the game."
Calmness is something that the Belgian claimed was a common theme, stating that the whole squad was "very calm" about the situation that they just brushed off as "speculation in the press".
Whilst the Chelsea keeper made it clear that the squad were not affected by it, he did accept that, perhaps, other teams may find it "pleasing," but it didn't concern him and he was happy with the way he returned from injury to "score a goal" and continue making a major impact on Chelsea's season.
Looking forward
Courtois was also happy with the three points they picked up against Hull in what he felt was a "hard" game. The victory provides Chelsea with a good boost before the back-to-back fixtures against Liverpool and Arsenal that are sure to test Antonio Conte's squad and the keeper admitted they wanted to "win more games" before those tough fixtures.
He is pleased with the "big gap" that Chelsea have now worked for themselves and is hopeful that they can put themselves "further away" with big victories in those top of the table clashes.