Diego Costa announces himself at Stamford Bridge with both goals as Chelsea beat Real Sociedad 2-0 in their final pre-season game

• Costa nets twice in first 10 minutes as Chelsea beat Real Sociedad
• First goal came inside a minute with the next coming in the seventh
• Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis also make first Stamford Bridge appearances 

 

Diego Costa apologised for his part in Chelsea’s European downfall last year, then set about backing his words with something more substantial as Jose Mourinho hailed his new centre forward a £32million bargain.

Costa scored twice in the first eight minutes as Mourinho’s team beat Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge in their final pre-season friendly before their Barclays Premier League campaign starts at Burnley on Monday.

‘The market is crazy and for strikers even more so,’ said the Chelsea boss. ‘For a striker like him, who is a champion in Spain and a Champions League finalist, who is young, only 25 years old, we consider the price was very much in our favour, considering the values in the market. 

‘Diego is a team player; he works a lot for the team. It’s not just about his goals. It’s about his defensive work, his mentality, his ambition. This is the player we bought; the player we were waiting for last season.

‘It’s the reason we did not buy a striker in the winter market. We were waiting for him. We have him and he looks adapted to the team, to our style of play and the Premier League should be happy because sometimes we lose important players to other countries.’

Costa was playing at Stamford Bridge for the first time since scoring a penalty for Atletico Madrid when they beat Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final in April and he needed only 57 seconds to find the net last night, converting a pass from Ramires.

‘I can say I’m really sorry for the part I played in the game we won,’ wrote Costa in the latest edition of the Chelsea magazine. ‘I hope my actions on the pitch and my feet will do the talking and then people can decide if I’m a good player or not, if I’m improving or not.

‘All I can say is that I love playing hard and fairly. Joining was an easy decision for me. We have some of the best players in the world, the best manager in the world and it’s a club with great history.

‘I want to improve, not only as a player but as an individual, and I believe this is the perfect place for me to do that. That’s the reason I chose Chelsea and why I want to defend this shirt.’ 

His second owed everything to Andre Schurrle, who thumped a post from the corner of the penalty box and the rebound dropped at the feet of Costa, who tapped in with his left foot.

It took his goal tally to four in pre-season and a full-house were soon singing his name. Costa went close to his hat-trick in the second-half before he was replaced by Fernando Torres on the hour.

Forgiven? You bet, just keep ’em coming, seemed to be the consensus as he acknowledged the standing ovation. At this point he looks every inch the goalscoring centre forward Mourinho bemoaned the lack of last season.

Apart from teenager Nathan Ake at left back, Mourinho started with what appears to be his strongest team, which looked well-balanced and powerful, although the second half was littered with substitutions.

Thibaut Courtois was preferred in goal to Petr Cech, the strongest indicator to date that the Belgian has the edge in the tussle to be No.1 goalkeeper.

The rest of the back four was as it was for most of last season, with John Terry and Gary Cahill in the centre and Branislav Ivanovic at right-back. Nemanja Matic anchored the midfield, with Cesc Fabregas and Ramires on either side. Up front, Eden Hazard and Schurrle flanked Costa.

Filipe Luis was one of four changes at half-time and quickly impressed with a dashing overlap and dangerous cross.

There are still areas where the squad seems thin, but it is stronger than this time last year. Much will hinge on Costa and his ability to keep finding the net — and the signs are positive.