DIEGO COSTA marked his return to Chelsea duty by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over Hull on Sunday that saw the Premier League leader goes eight points clear after Arsenal went second by coming through late penalty drama.

    Brazil-born Spain forward Costa, who took his Chelsea tally for the season to 15 league goals, missed last weekend’s 3-0 win at champion Leicester City due to an apparent back complaint.

    But Costa, the Blues’ leading scorer, was reported to have had a training-ground row with fitness coach Julio Tous, amid speculation he had been the subject of a mega-money offer from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian.

    Following a sickening clash of heads between Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and Ryan Mason that saw the Hull man taken to hospital, Costa struck in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time when he turned in a Victor Moses cross.

    Hull pushed Chelsea hard and might have had a penalty before Cahill sealed victory for the hosts nine minutes from time at Stamford Bridge when he ran on unchallenged to head in Cesc Fabregas’s free-kick.

    Chelsea manager Antonio Conte praised Costa’s display, telling Sky Sports: “His performance was good and I am pleased for this.

    “In the press conference before the game a lot of people asked me about his form, his attitude, and I said I took the best decision for the team, and I think I made the best decision after this performance.”

    Earlier in London, 10-man Arsenal beat Burnley 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in a match where both sides scored penalties in stoppage time.

    Shkodran Mustafi’s first Arsenal goal put the home side 1-0 up in the 59th minute.

    That was still the score when, in the third of seven minutes of time added on, Burnley’s Ashley Barnes was fouled inside the area by Francis Coquelin and referee Jon Moss awarded a penalty.

    Andre Gray, a childhood Arsenal fan, scored from the ensuing spot-kick but there was more drama to come.

    With virtually the last attack of the game, Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny was caught by Ben Mee’s high foot as he attempted to head in and Moss once more pointed to the spot.

    Alexis Sanchez, showing remarkable nerve, chipped a penalty down the middle to give the Gunners three valuable points.(SD-Agencies)