Chelsea vs West Ham match report: Diego Costa strikes late to hand Antonio Conte winning start

Chelsea 2 West Ham United 1: The Blues were not at their best but managed to grind out a result against Slaven Bilic's men nonetheless

Diego Costa struck late for Chelsea against West Ham (Getty)

It was in the last minute of this high-octane low-quality match that Chelsea finally won it. They had just gifted their lead away to West Ham United’s first chance of the match, after long balls to Andy Carroll finally paid off. Chelsea could have been reduced to nine men with first Diego Costa and then N’Golo Kante let off with obvious yellow card offences having each already been booked. Costa, then, with seconds of normal time left, beat Adrian from distance. Welcome to the Premier League Antonio Conte.

As a crash-course in English football this was perfect for Chelsea’s new coach. His whole managerial career has taken place in Italy and with the Italian national team. This was the opposite of that careful thoughtful tactical football. It was messy, chaotic and imprecise, played out under lights in a derby atmosphere. And it was Chelsea, deservedly, who won it at the end.

Conte ran off around the technical area when Costa won the game. On the final whistle he strode onto the pitch to bear-hug every one of his players. At this stage of the season performances often matter more than results, but Chelsea is a club that needs to remember how to win again. Conte wants to teach the players his idea of football, but that will take time. For now he just needs to make them believe in him.

Eventually Conte wants his Chelsea team to play aggressive, direct, athletic football, in his favoured 4-2-4 system. Chelsea are nowhere near being able to do that yet, not least because they have not signed enough players. Kante was the only change here from the Chelsea team that drew 2-2 with Swansea City on opening weekend last summer, when Jose Mourinho complained about his team doctor and everything started to unravel.

Here Kante was Chelsea’s best player, the man who looked most at ease with the demands Conte has made. Anchoring midfield in a 4-3-3, he missed his first tackle, on Andy Carroll, but after then won almost everything else. Oscar, Willian and Diego Costa tried to play at the same tempo too, but in the first half Chelsea struggled to create chances. It will take time to find the right balance between intensity and imagination, and here they did have it right.

Chelsea did always have men bursting into the box, but did not always have enough quality. Branislav Ivanovic forced a save from Adrian, Oscar went down in the box unrewarded before Eden Hazard, cutting in from the left, whistled a shot just wide of the far post.

But if Chelsea were anxious that they had missed their first-half chance then they need not have been. Because four minutes into the second half West Ham gifted them the easiest goal they will score this season. Michail Antonio skewed a clearance to Cesar Azpilcueta then fouled him as he ran into the box. Hazard converted the penalty and Bilic dragged off a humiliated Antonio, who trudged straight down the tunnel. Bilic could have avoided the problem by playing a specialist right-back from the start.

Eden Hazard is congratulated by his team-mates (Getty)

This was when Chelsea should have stepped it up but, still finding their way as a team, they let West Ham back into the game. With Andre Ayew limping out of his debut, Dimitri Payet on the bench and Manuel Lanzini at the Olympics, this was a West Ham team shorn of all their creative quality. Their only plan was long balls to Andy Carroll and they could barely even pick him out for the first hour.

But when they eventually started to find Carroll, with 13 minutes left, he won them a free-kick. Payet, finally on, won the corner. And it fell to James Collins on the edge of the box, who somehow found the top corner of the net. It was West Ham’s first chance, but a fair punishment for a Chelsea side who had taken their eyes off what they were meant to be doing.

Conte had to throw everything at West Ham to get back into the game, and introduced Pedro, Victor Moses and new signing Michy Batshuayi from the bench. West Ham gifted them possession and Matic picked out Batshuayi with a long ball. He won the flick on and it fell to Costa, 20 yards from goal, with neithr West Ham centre-back coming out to challenge. Costa looked up, gathered himself, and found the bottom corner.

James Collins celebrates scoring the leveller for West Ham (Getty)

Costa was lucky to be on the pitch, having got away with an earlier foul on Adrian, having already been booked, that would earn a red card more often than a yellow. Kante, too, could have gone for a bad trip on Payet in the middle of the pitch. But both survived and Chelsea went on to win it. Later in the Conte era they will play better than this, and they will need to. But there are worse ways to start.