Chelsea’s Costa is showing his passion the right way, says Conte

Diego Costa needs to keep playing with the control he has been showing so far this season if he is to continue his rich vein of goalscoring form, according to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

The 28-year-old Spanish international became the first man in the Premier League to reach double figures this term, netting the only goal in the Blues’ 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough.

Costa has now scored in six of Chelsea’s past seven away games, and under the Italian he seems to have put to bed the aggressive tendencies that plagued his game last season.

But while Conte has hailed him as one of the world’s best hitmen, he believes Costa needs to keep his focus on helping his teammates on the pitch rather than causing trouble, if his purple patch is to continue.

“Diego is always important,” he said. “He is the point of reference in our attack, and together with Eden and Pedro, they played a good game today.

“Diego is impressing with the way he is finding ways to score goals. It’s important to continue in this way because we need his goals, Eden’s goals, Willian’s goals, Pedro’s goals…

“In the past, people asked me about his behaviour, his reaction, his passion, and now he’s one of the best strikers in the world. He has to continue in this way. He is showing his passion in the right way.

“He is very focused on helping the team with and without the ball, and he is scoring goals.”