English Premiership League
Result: Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea
Date: 20 November 2016
Venue: Riverside Stadium
Diego Costa sent Chelsea to the top of the English Premier League table, as the Blues defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
Antonio Conte named an unchanged side from the team that thrashed Everton 5-0 before the international break.
The Blues saw a lot of the ball in the opening exchanges, although Boro were quite content to sit back and soak up the pressure.
Chelsea almost went ahead after 27 minutes when Victor Moses teed up Pedro Rodriguez, who was denied by a superb finger-tip save by Victor Valdes.
The Blues eventually broke the deadlock five minutes before the halftime break, as Diego Costa reacted quickest to volley home from six-yards out.
Middlesbrough improved upon resumption of the second half, but were let down by some poor decision-making in the final third.
Chelsea nearly doubled their lead in the 62nd minute as Costa teed up Pedro, who rattled the crossbar from the edge of the box.
Boro pushed for an equaliser and were nearly rewarded in the 78th minute through Alvaro Negredo, but Thibaut Courtois produced a fine save to keep out the striker's volley.
However, Chelsea managed to see off a late surge from the home side to clinch the three points, as they moved to the top of the table.
