José Mourinho said he was delighted with his new striker Diego Costa after the £32m signing from Atlético Madrid scored twice in the opening seven minutes of his first appearance for his new club at Stamford Bridge. Costa took only 57 seconds to find the net before quickly adding to his tally as Mourinho’s side geared up for their Premier League opener at Burnley on Monday with a deserved 2-0 victory.
“What can we expect? I expect Diego and Diego is a team player who works hard, he’s not just about goals,” said Mourinho. “It’s about his defensive work, mentality and ambition. This is the player we bought and we were waiting for since last season. This is why we didn’t buy a striker in the winter market. We were waiting for him, we have him and hopefully everything goes well.
“He looks adapted to the team and the Premier League, not just Chelsea, should be happy. Sometimes we lose important players going to other countries and sometimes we bring new top players here.
“You can consider that [a bargain] because the market is crazy and the values are very high.
“For a striker like him, a champion in Spain, a Champions League finalist, a 25-year-old, we consider the price was very much in our favour.”
Costa certainly made an immediate impression. A pass from Ramires inside the opening minute allowed him the oportunity to demonstrate why he was so coveted by his new manager as he finished past the Sociedad goalkeeper, Eñaut Zubikarai, from a tight angle to give the hosts the lead.
Costa doubled Chelsea’s lead when he tapped home from close range after André Schürrle’s shot from the edge of the penalty area crashed off a post. Costa missed a chance to snatch a hat-trick in the second half and Fernando Torres also fluffed a clear-cut opening. Thibaut Courtois – largely untroubled for most of the match – had to be alert to deny Chori Castro in the 77th minute.
Mourinho confirmed after the friendly that his striker Didier Drogba is recovering well from the injury he picked up last week. “He’s good. I don’t want to say ready for Monday but with the quality of our medical department and the mentality he has, I’m not saying it’s impossible for him to recover for Monday.”
Chelsea (4-3-3): Courtois; Ivanovic (Zouma, 82), Cahill (Azpilicueta, 45), Terry (Christiansen, 86) , Ake (Luis, h-t); Ramires (Oscar, h-t), Matic (Van Ginkel, 82), Fábregas (Mikel, 71); Schürrle (Willian, h-t), Costa (Torres, 60), Hazard (Salah, 82)