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Chelsea manager Jose Mourino hailed the impact made by summer signing Diego Costa after the striker produced a hat-trick to earn his side a 4-2 victory over Swansea City to maintain their perfect start to the Barclays Premier League season.
Costa struck three times at Stamford Bridge after the west Londoners had fallen behind to a John Terry own goal, before Loic Remy added a fourth and Jonjo Shelvey struck a late second for the Swans."The team was built in a way where we were waiting for a certain type of striker and I think now everybody knows that Chelsea did the right thing by waiting for Costa"
Jose MourinhoAnd Mourinho admitted even he has been surprised by the impact made by the former Atletico Madrid man, who has now become the first player to score seven goals in his first four Barclays Premier League appearances.
"Seven goals in four Premier League matches is maybe too much," he said. "We cannot expect that after eight matches he has 14 goals. But the way he is playing, if he keeps scoring a few goals, a few goals give points, and points help the team to be in the top part of the table.
"Seven goals in four matches has surprised me because it is something that is not normal. You cannot repeat it in a cyclic way - four matches, seven goals, four matches, seven goals. Maybe in the next four matches he'll score two goals.
"But he's comfortable in the team. The team was built in a way where we were waiting for a certain type of striker and I think now everybody knows that Chelsea did the right thing by waiting for him and not going to the market in the summer of 2013 or January 2014 just to buy a striker. Chelsea did well by waiting for the right one."
The two sides came into the match having won all three Barclays Premier League matches this season, but it was Chelsea who maintained their unblemished record as they came from behind to secure another three points. Swansea looked the brighter early on and took an unexpected lead courtesy of Terry's own goal in the 11th minute, but the Blues began to turn the tide and were level when the in-form Costa headed in a Cesc Fabregas corner before the interval.
The Spain forward popped up again in the 56th minute to cap a well-worked passing move, before rounding off his hat-trick 11 minutes later. Debutant Remy added a fourth in the 81st minute with a low strike beyond Lukasz Fabianski after coming on as a substitute. Shelvey grabbed the Swans' second goal but it was too little, too late as Mourinho's side took their tally to 10 goals in their last two top-flight matches to go three points clear at the top of the table.
Swansea were replaced in second place by Aston Villa, whose captain Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the early winning goal to beat Liverpool 1-0 and continue their excellent recent form at Anfield. Villa drew 2-2 at Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League last season after winning 3-1 in their previous visit and Brendan Rodgers' side were once again found wanting against their visitors from the Midlands in the late kick-off.
Agbonlahor capitalised on hesitant defending in the eighth minute to put Villa in front and there was no way back for the Reds, who struggled to create a clear opening throughout until Philippe Coutinho crashed an 81st-minute shot against the post. Three wins and a draw from their opening matches represents Villa's best start to a BPL season for 16 years, while two wins and as many defeats mean Liverpool are already six points behind pacesetters Chelsea.
Everton picked up their first win of the Barclays Premier League season as they inflicted a 2-0 defeat on West Bromwich Albion. Jonas Olsson gifted the ball to Romelu Lukaku for the opening goal in the second minute and Ben Foster allowed a shot from Kevin Mirallas to sneak under his body midway through the second half. West Brom showed plenty of endeavour in trying to get back into the match but demonstrated a lack of composure in front of goal as they slipped to a second league defeat of the season. Harry Kane's own goal earned Sunderland an unlikely 2-2 draw as Tottenham Hotspur failed to hold on to a lead. It seemed the visitors would get back to winning ways when Christian Eriksen put them ahead just after half-time, with Adam Johnson having earlier cancelled out Nacer Chadli's strike at the Stadium of Light. But after Erik Lamela rattled the woodwork, Sunderland earned a share of the spoils when Will Buckley's free-kick hit Kane and flew into the net.
Graziano Pelle scored a double for Southampton as they beat Newcastle United 4-0. It was Pelle who did most of the damage for Southampton as he found the net twice in the first half to take his tally for the season to four goals in all competitions.
The home side's triumph was rounded off by second-half strikes from midfielders Jack Cork and Morgan Schneiderlin to make it seven points from four Barclays Premier League games for Ronald Koeman since he took over from Mauricio Pochettino in June. By contrast the away side are still waiting for the first top-flight win of the campaign and now sit bottom of the table, having won just one Barclays Premier League match out of their last 12.
Leonardo Ulloa scored his third goal in four matches as Leicester City beat Stoke City 1-0 for a first win on their Barclays Premier League return. A club-record signing from Brighton & Hove Albion, Ulloa was on hand to score from a counter-attack in the 64th minute, applying a back-post finish to Paul Konchesky's low cross.
Julian Speroni saved Scott Arfield's late penalty as Crystal Palace and Burnley drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park. The Palace goalkeeper flung himself to his right to keep out the midfielder's spot-kick in the 85th minute after Lukas Jutkiewicz had been hauled to the ground by Mile Jedinak. The result ensures both sides continue to search for their first league win of the season, while Burnley's afternoon was further soured by last season's top scorer Danny Ings hobbling off shortly before half-time with a hamstring injury.
In the day's opening encounter, Martin Demichelis's late header rescued a 2-2 draw for Manchester City in an enthralling Barclays Premier League contest against Arsenal. Goals after the break from Jack Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez had eclipsed Sergio Aguero's first-half opener and appeared to have handed all three points to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. However, the City centre-back Demichelis crashed home a header with seven minutes remaining to ensure Manuel Pellegrini's side earned a share of the spoils.
