Chelsea’s Cahill hails ‘fantastic’ Costa

Gary Cahill says Chelsea are reaping the benefits of a more focused and mature Diego Costa.

The Spain striker has scored 11 goals in 14 Premier League games this season, including the equaliser in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Manchester City.

Costa has often been criticised for allowing his fiery temperament to boil over into petulance, but Cahill believes his team-mate is showing more restraint and concentrating on his own game.

“I’ve seen more composure from him,” Cahill told Chelsea’s website.

“The first half [at City] didn’t go ideally for us and we were starved of the ball a bit. Likewise, he was, so he was scrapping around and not quite getting the opportunities.

“In the last few years maybe he would have got frustrated with that but he kept his cool and in the second half he got more involved with the game.

“He’s one of the best going. He’s been fantastic for us this season, he’s showing a lot of maturity and banging in the goals. He’s on fire and we hope that continues.”

Cahill added an eight-match winning streak has now given Chelsea a feeling of invincibility.

They have not dropped points since the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in September, after which boss Antonio Conte switched to three at the back, and defender Cahill credits the new formation for their best run of form since 2010.

The England defender said: “We’ve worked well together and we know how to play that system.

“Every time we go out on to the pitch it’s like we can’t lose but it’s a nice pressure to have on ourselves.”