Chelsea kick off season in emphatic style

Diego Costa began to pay back his hefty transfer fee with a debut goal for Chelsea as they recovered from the shock of going behind to seal an emphatic 3-1 win over Burnley on Monday.

Spain striker Costa, bought from La Liga champions Atletico Madrid for £32 million, cancelled out Scott Arfield’s opener for Burnley before Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic scored further goals before half-time to ease Jose Mourinho’s side to an impressive victory in their Premier League opener at Turf Moor.

Having failed to bring a trophy to Stamford Bridge last season for the first time in his two spells in charge, Blues boss Mourinho – and possibly club owner Roman Abramovich – will not tolerate such relative failure again.

The arrival of Costa therefore came as a serious show of intent and Chelsea’s determination to dethrone reigning champions Manchester City was further underlined as they went top of the table after a dominant performance inspired by a masterful debut from Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

“When you come to a place like this and you are a goal down against a difficult team then players can get down heartened and lose faith. Burnley are a direct and physical side but overall we had good control and we showed moments of class,” Mourinho said.