Costa’s goal gives Chelsea victory over Norwich

Chelsea 1 Norwich City 0

Diego Costa’s second-half goal gave Chelsea a much-needed win at Stamford Bridge.

Norwich defended resolutely but were undone by a quickly-taken free-kick on 64 minutes.

Cesc Fabregas lifted the ball forward and Costa cut inside Ryan Bennett before steering his shot beyond John Ruddy and into the far corner – the striker’s fourth goal of the season and his first in seven matches.

Kurt Zouma almost doubled the lead four minutes later with an improvised flick from Willian’s left-wing free-kick that struck the bar.

Costa had missed Chelsea’s best chances during a first half in which both teams felt they could have been awarded a penalty.

He sent a first-time effort over after Pedro had pulled ball back from the left and, three minutes before the interval, he had a clear sight of goal but keeper Ruddy stuck out his right foot to stop his shot.

Norwich posed a threat on the counter-attack and appealed in vain for a spot-kick on 33 minutes, when Robbie Brady went down under a challenge from Willian.

And Chelsea then wanted a penalty when the always-busy Willian played the ball in to Costa, who tumbled following a tangle with Sebastien Bassong.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho, whose team had lost seven of their 12 previous Premier League matches this season, gave Kennedy a first league start.

The 19-year-old responded with a lively display in which he constantly looked to get forward from left-back, while Willian was relentless in his attempts to help Chelsea break the deadlock.

In the end it was Costa’s cool finish that made the difference – along with a smart save from Asmir Begovic, who prevented an equaliser by diving to his right to keep out Brady’s shot.