Chelsea are in one of those grooves that allows them to make attacking football look rather easy.
Pace, directness, good passing and nice angles. It all adds up to a potency that has propelled Antonio Conte’s side on a six-game winning run in the Premier League that in turn has taken them past Liverpool to the top of the table.
A side that looked ordinary not long ago looks special at the moment. They played some lovely football here. The understanding between a group of players that are also prepared to work very hard was evident throughout. The only mystery was how they didn’t win by more.
Costa was surrounded by Middlesbrough players but was alert to get to the ball first and fire past Boro’s Victor Valdes (left)
The Brazil-born Spain international jumps for joy to celebrate his strike after breaking the deadlock against Middlesbrough
The former Atletico Madrid star is congratulated by his team-mates, including David Luiz (left), following his first-half strike
Before the game’s first goal, Boro goalkeeper Valdes produced this remarkable save to prevent Pedro from scoring
Pedro, formerly of Barcelona, reacts with frustration after missing a chance to score his third league goal of the season.
Middlesbrough were plucky and committed and backed by a terrifically vocal home support. They were not on the same level as Chelsea in terms of the football, though. A couple of chances came their way late in the game, but on the whole they simply couldn’t do what Chelsea could.
The stars for the London club were the usual ones. Eden Hazard and Pedro were like ghosts, appearing out of the gloom right across the Chelsea front line. At times Middlesbrough couldn’t track them and when they could, they couldn’t catch them.
Diego Costa, meanwhile, scored the winning goal and led the line manfully like a proper No 9. But there were others, too. Both wing-backs, Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, were a nuisance all afternoon, for example.
So Chelsea go top and deservedly so. Moving forwards, It will be a surprise if Conte deviates much from the 3-4-3 system that seems to suit his players so well. This is the most expressive Chelsea team there has been for some time and they will beat better sides than the one they faced on Sunday.
Certainly, Chelsea’s way of playing has changed drastically from early season and much has been made of Conte’s use of a back three. The formation affords his team greater width and the visiting team were dangerous down both sides of the field throughout.
Middlesbrough, with only one win in their previous 10 games, were also progressive when they had the ball and it made for an engaging opening.
Certainly there was no lack of atmosphere at the Riverside and that probably contributed to the way that Middlesbrough started the game. There was a directness about the home team’s play and twice early on they troubled Chelsea with quick, aggressive breaks.
A pass down the left by full-back Fabio released Gaston Ramirez and Middlesbrough would probably have had the game’s first real chance had his pass across goal not been played slightly behind Marten de Roone.
Then Adama Traore danced through the middle before losing his footing and Ramirez found himself with space ahead of him only to fail on the back of a poor touch.