Chelsea 2 West Ham United 1
Diego Costa fired a controversial winner as Chelsea edged out West Ham in Antonio Conte's first game in charge, with the Spain striker lucky to be on the pitch after a lunging challenge on Adrian.
The 27-year-old slotted Chelsea's winner one minute from time, but could so easily have been sent off for a ragged second-half challenge on West Ham's goalkeeper.
Eden Hazard's well-struck penalty handed Chelsea the early second-half lead, only for defender James Collins to produce a fine equalising strike.
But just when West Ham thought they would hold firm for a hard-fought point, up popped Costa with a smartly-struck winner, but one that would doubtless anger visiting boss Slaven Bilic.
Former Juventus manager Conte revealed he admires gritty striker Costa's fiery approach in midweek, but the ex-Italy boss may well feel the 27-year-old overstepped the mark with his rash challenge on Adrian.
All that fuss had no impact on the scoreboard however, with ex-Italy boss Conte able to get his Premier League campaign off to a winning, albeit breathless start.



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