Courtois sent off as Chelsea draw with Swansea

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Chelsea 2 Swansea City 2

Thibaut Courtois was sent off and Chelsea twice squandered the lead in a pulsating season-opener.

Oscar’s clever free-kick put the Blues ahead and Willian’s deflected cross made it 2-1 after Andre Ayew had equalised for Swansea.

But Courtois was dismissed for bringing down Bafetimbi Gomis seven minutes after the break and the Swans striker converted the resulting penalty to earn a point.

City deserved their draw, having edged an open match despite some strong late Chelsea pressure.

Gomis twice went close and Ki Sung-Yueng saw a fierce shot parried by Courtois as Swansea created the better chances in the opening 15 minutes.

Diego Costa, who started despite missing the final two pre-season fixtures with a hamstring injury, had decent claims for a penalty turned down following a desperate lunging challenge by Federico Fernandez, which referee Michael Oliver felt brushed the ball.

But Chelsea did not have to wait much longer to go ahead, Oscar’s inswinging free-kick from the left flank eluded everyone and found the far corner of the net.

Swansea levelled within six minutes when debutant Ayew scored at the second attempt after Courtois did brilliantly to keep out a Gomis header.

However, their celebrations were cut short almost immediately when Willian’s driven cross from the left took the cruellest of deflections and looped in to the far corner.

But Chelsea were struggling to match Swansea’s sharpness in midfield and the visitors continued to look the more cohesive and likely to score after the break.

And the game turned dramatically in their favour when Courtois, who needed treatment just prior to kick-off in order to play, was sent off for bringing down Gomis right on the edge of the box after charging out of his goal.

Replacement keeper Asmir Begovic was unable to keep out the Gomis penalty and then had to make a couple of fine saves – notably from Jefferson Montero’s near-post shot – as the Blues momentarily lost their composure.

Chelsea recovered and were stronger in the closing stages, with Branislav Ivanovic going close with a header and the excellent Eden Hazard forcing a fine near-post block from Lukasz Fabianski.

But they were unable to find a 13th win from their last 14 opening-day fixtures.

Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas (Zouma 76); Willian (Falcao 84), Oscar (Begovic 54), Hazard; Diego Costa.
Subs not used: Ramires, Mikel, Moses, Remy.

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