Swansea City 2-2 Chelsea: Premier League as it happened
Antonio Conte's side are seeking their fourth win from from four in the league.
- Chelsea drop points for the first time under Antonio Conte after thrilling draw in south Wales despite leading at half-time through Diego Costa's opener.
- A Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty and a controversial Leroy Fer goal saw Swansea score twice in two minutes to take the lead.
- Costa added his second with a wonderful overhead kick.
- John Terry limped off the pitch after final whistle.
Well, this game is bonkers. Suddenly Hazard races through with Fabianksi rushing out to close him down but he Belgian appears to pull out of his run with the Polish goalkeeper bearing down on him. Fabianksi sticks out a foot to intercept but it then breaks to Costa, and the Swansea goalkeeper goes after him too! There is slight contact between the goalkeeper and the striker and Costa goes down outside of the area. There are appeals for a penalty, but the referee waves them away.
Incredible! From a goal behind, Swansea have scored twice in two minutes to take the lead! Under no pressure, Terry passes across to his centre-half partner Cahill who dawdles on the ball and miscontrols it, allowing the Dutchman to race through. Cahill sticks to him but Fer just about manages to sneak an effort under Courtois that crawls across the line.
Azpilicueta darts down the left and is brilliantly picked out by Matic. He carries on his run down the byline and has options in the box, but instead tries to beat Fabianski on his own from an impossible angle. The Swansea goalkeeper saves, and the Spaniard offers an apology to his teammates for not passing. Chelsea settle for a corner.
Swansea's brittle defence is exposed again. A cross from Ivanovic in from the right is headed straight up rather than out. Fabianksi thinks about coming out but then retreats, with Kingsley losing out to Oscar who does well to take the ball down and prod it across goal. He rolls it straight into the path of Costa who produces a crisp finish, placing it in the far corner out of Fabianski's reach.
Why change a winning formula? Antonio Conte has kept to the same team that eased to a 3-0 win over Burnley before the international break. That means the returning David Luiz settles for a spot on the bench alongside fellow deadline day signing Marcos Alonso. Michy Batshuayi, who has three goals to his name this season already, also missed out on a starting spot.
Francesco Guidolin has opted to make two changes this afternoon. Bringing in record signing Borja Baston isn't one of them, however - the Spaniard doesn't make the squad despite having returned to training following a thigh problem.
Wales left-back Neil Taylor and South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng do come in however and it looks like the Swansea boss has opted for a tactical shift too, opting for a 5-4-1 with a diamond in midfield over his usual 4-4-2.
What about Chelsea's other deadline say signing? Marcos Alonso returned for his third spell in the Premier League on deadline day and the arrival of the left-back could finally see Cesar Azpilicueta moved to his natural position on the right hand side of defence. Conte said of Alonso:
It was important to bring in Alonso because he is left-footed – in the squad we have three [full-backs] who are right-footed. He's played in England before and for this reason he has good experience of this league.
Borja Baston joined his countryman Fernando Llorente at the Liberty Stadiun this summer. The forward, who arrived from Atletico Madrid for a reported £15m, has been unable to make his debut due to a thigh injury suffered in training, but having stepped up his return during the international break, he could have a role to play today. Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin told reporters on Thursday:
He is working, but he has to go slow (in training) for two or three days. He does not have an injury. I hope to have him available for the bench on Sunday, but I don't know. I am not sure at the moment. He worked with us last week but he needs some days where he works slowly. He is almost ready to play.
Under former interim Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez, then under Jose Mourinho and even for a brief spell while at Paris Saint-Germain, David Luiz played as a midfielder. Will Antonio Conte follow suit? That wouldn't appear to be the plan.
We needed a centre-back. In this squad we have Gary Cahill and John Terry and sometimes we can adapt Branislav Ivanovic but we need a centre-back, for this reason we got him. Sometimes he plays as a midfielder but that is not the idea for us.
David Luiz's return to west London was the story of transfer deadline day. But his move back to the capital prompted one or two questions. Will Antonio Conte have to change his formation? Will the Brazilian be picked ahead of Gary Cahill and John Terry? We considered the Italian's options.
Team news: Swansea City
In addition to Baston, Alfie Mawson may also make his debut against Chelsea after he was signed from Barnsley in the final days of the transfer window. Neil Taylor is also available for selection once again.
Things haven't started too badly for Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge. Under the Italian, the Blues have taken three wins from three after victories over West Ham United, Watford and Burnley.
It took them until mid-October to surpass the nine point mark last season. But things have been far smoother this time around and already under the Italian's guidance, Chelsea look ready to mix it up at the summit of the Premier League again. Victory today will see them move level on points with Manchester City, who broke away from rivals Manchester United's after Saturday's derby success at Old Trafford.
After a promising victory over Burnley on the opening day of the season, Swansea have faltered. Defeats to Hull and Leicester see them sat in 16th place, but with record signing Borja Baston in contention to finally make his debut for the club, there could be reason for hope today.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.