Home Premier League Chelsea Chelsea narrowly see off Norwich City

Chelsea narrowly see off Norwich City

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Diego Costa sinks Canaries with second-half strike

Chelsea stopped their losing streak in the Premier League yesterday afternoon as they saw off Norwich City thanks to a second-half goal from Diego Costa.

Jose Mourinho’s men went into the game following three defeats on the trot, the first time a Roman Abramovich Chelsea side has suffered that kind of streak, but it wasn’t to get worse for the Blues as they eventually broke down a stubborn Norwich.

As for the Canaries, they were unlucky on their travels last time around as a last-minute penalty saw Manchester City beat them 2-1, and they nearly took something from this game as well.

The international break probably came at the right time for Chelsea and Mourinho, as it took a lot of the media spotlight away from the under-fire manager.

Match Summary

However, it looked like the pressure was set to be ramped up again as Chelsea couldn’t break down a resilient Canary back-line.

The two sides went in at half-time all level with Chelsea failing to break down Alex Neil’s men.

However, just after the hour-mark, a quick free-kick from Cesc Fabregas found its way to Costa, who kept calm and curled the ball past a helpless John Ruddy and into the bottom corner, much to the relief of everyone inside Stamford Bridge.

Kurt Zouma nearly wrapped up the points but he saw his effort rebound off the back, but the Costa strike was enough to give Chelsea a vital three points.

The win lifts them just one spot in the table, above Norwich into 15th, while Canaries drop down one spot to 16th.

Manager Reaction

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho: “The only thing we didn’t do was score more from the chances we had. We should have scored at least two and breathed easier, but it is difficult for us to score goals and to keep a clean sheet against a team who plays defensively and then has a try in the final few minutes because they had nothing to lose.

“Diego Costa missed two big chances in the first half and if he did not score it would be a big 50 kilo on his back, but he scored and he could breathe easy.

“Now I have two big games to watch – Real Madrid against Barcelona and the Portuguese Cup, so I think I will have a good meal in front of the television.”

Norwich manager Alex Neil: “I am disappointed. I thought our players worked really hard, I felt we gave Chelsea very little and we worked really hard.

“We put some fresh legs on as the game went on, and tried to create problems. Arguably we could have done more but I am happy with my players.

“We’ve done it at Liverpool, at Manchester City and here – gone to the so-called bigger clubs and put on a show. It is just disappointing we had that one lapse of concentration.”

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