Diego Costa strikes late to hand manager Antonio Conte win in first match

Diego Costa scored a dramatic late winner as Antonio Conte started life as Chelsea manager with a 2-1 victory over West Ham.

The Spanish international was involved in an incident with opposition goalkeeper Adrian with could have seen him shown a second yellow card, with referee Anthony Taylor deciding not to send off the striker. He would go on to have the final say, finding the net just one minute from full-time.

West Ham looked to have salvaged a point for themselves with James Collins’ thunderous equaliser after 77 minutes, restoring parity after Eden Hazard’s opener from the spot two minutes into the second half for the Blues.

But Conte and his team got off to the winning start that they deserved, with West Ham only finding a foothold late in the contest. There were glimpses of what the Italian wants from his new team, but the Blues will need to improve if they are to mount a title challenge this season.

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