MX23RW : Thursday, November 14 21:57:28| >> :120:25712:25712:
[monks data]
Chelsea logo
Pre-season Friendlies
Aug 12, 2014 at 7.45pm UK
 
Real Sociedad logo

2-0

Costa (2', 7')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Diego Costa double inspires Chelsea to friendly victory

Chelsea beat Real Sociedad 2-0 at Stamford Bridge courtesy of Diego Costa's first-half brace.

Diego Costa struck two goals in the opening seven minutes of his Stamford Bridge debut to fire Chelsea to a 2-0 victory against Real Sociedad.

Diego Costa of Chelsea during the pre-season friendly match between Chelsea and Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on August 12, 2014 © Getty Images

The summer signing took just two minutes to get off the mark, charging forward from midfield before finding the back of the net from the edge of the box to make it 1-0 early on.

Having seen Ramires miss a sitter to put the Blues two up, Costa took matters into his own hands and added his second of the night, heading in from close range after Andre Schurrle's curled effort came back off the post.

Esteban Granero came closest to getting Sociedad off the mark in the first half with his curler from outside the box which swerved away from the target at the last moment.

Costa looked as though he would have the opportunity to round off his hat-trick before the interval after almost being picked out by Cesc Fabregas's long ball, but the pass had too much pace on it and Enaut Zubikarai safely collected.

Chelsea had shouts for a penalty turned down midway into the second half after Mikel Gonzalez appeared to handle the ball inside the box, but the referee disagreed.

Substitute Fernando Torres almost added a third for Jose Mourinho's charges after squeezing between two opposition defenders, though his header was off target.

Thibaut Courtois, who was given the nod over Petr Cech for this final pre-season friendly clash, was tested with 10 minutes remaining when Imanol Agirretxe drilled a low strike towards goal from the edge of the box, with the former Atletico Madrid man comfortably keeping it out in the end.

Chelsea face Burnley next Monday in their opening Premier League match.

ID:170843: cacheID:170843:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4179:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Thibaut Courtois celebrates Atletico Madrid scoring against Barcelona on April 09, 2014.
Read Next:
Team News: Courtois handed Stamford Bridge start
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!