Half-time: Chelsea 2 Swansea 1

By

Chelsea are on course for an unconvincing opening-day victory courtesy of Oscar’s clever free-kick and a fortunate deflected strike by Willian.

Oscar put the champions ahead and moments after Andrew Ayew’s equaliser, Willian restored the lead when his cross looped in to the far corner.

Bafetimbi Gomis twice went close as Swansea created the better chances in the opening 15 minutes, glancing a header wide and seeing a shot brilliantly blocked by a scrambling John Terry.

Ki Sung-Yueng then had a fierce strike parried away by Thibaut Courtois, who started in goal for the champions despite an injury scare that saw him need treatment just before kick off.

Chelsea’s more obvious injury concern Diego Costa was in typically fiery form and could easily have been awarded a penalty following a desperate lunging tackle by Federico Fernandez, which referee Michael Oliver felt brushed the ball before taking down the Spain striker.

But Chelsea did not have to wait much longer to go ahead, Oscar’s inswinging free-kick from the left flank eluded everyone and found the far corner of the net.

Swansea levelled within six minutes when debutant Ayew neatly found the net on the second attempt after Courtois did brilliantly to keep out a Gomis header.

However, their celebrations were cut short almost immediately when Willian’s driven cross from the left took the cruellest of deflections and found the far corner.

Costa’s inclusion, despite missing the last two pre-season fixtures with his ongoing hamstring injury, meant summer signing Radamel Falcao and fellow striker Loic Remy were both among the substitutes.

Cesc Fabragas and Nemanja Matic started as the deep-lying midfield duo, with Oscar deployed as the number ten and Willian and Eden Hazard on the flanks.

Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.
Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Ramires, Mikel, Moses, Remy, Falcao.

5656

Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook