Everton 6-3

Independent:

Diego Costa has Jose Mourinho purring as Chelsea slip into overdrive

New signing sets the tone with all-action performance in startling team display of attacking play that Chelsea’s manager describes as ‘fantastic’

By SIMON HART

Park the bus? That’s so last season for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. On their last visit to Merseyside in April, they won at Anfield with a smash-and-grab. Here, in the Goodison drizzle, they went on the attack and outpunched Everton in an extraordinary nine-goal slugfest to maintain their 100 per cent winning start to the campaign.
Diego Costa started it all off with the opening goal after 37 seconds and finished it in the final minute, underlining why Mourinho did not hesitate to offload four different strikers when bringing in the Spanish international for £32m from Atletico Madrid in the summer.
One of the forwards who left Stamford Bridge – Samuel Eto’o – came off the bench to score a debut goal but that was a mere footnote during a breathless second half when two teams traded blows – with five goals scored in one mad 10-minute spell – and Chelsea came out on top.
“We were killers in attack, especially counterattacks,” said Mourinho of this new, all-guns-blazing Chelsea. “The quality of our football was fantastic – every time we had the ball we were aggressive, we were dangerous. We were very, very good with the ball.”
And they had in Costa a player who has four goals from three Chelsea starts. “Diego is maybe the best player in the Premier League in the first three matches,” said Mourinho of the striker who started the goalrush when Cesc Fabregas picked out his diagonal run behind Sylvain Distin.
With Everton defenders appealing for offside, he shot through the legs of Howard. Everton had conceded two late goals to surrender a two-goal lead against Arsenal last weekend and here they had not even puffed their cheeks before they were two goals down as Ramires played in Branislav Ivanovic who shot low past Howard.
Replays showed the Chelsea man was offside, though the next big call did go the way of the shellshocked home side with Howard lucky to avoid being penalised when he caught a through ball in the D of his penalty box.
It was on a Saturday evening last September that Roberto Martinez’s reign as Everton manager gained lift-off with victory over Chelsea but today was a sobering experience for the Spaniard,. Everton have conceded ten goals in three games. He said: “We were too soft with our defending.’’
What they did have was a refusal to lie down. Romelu Lukaku, starting against his old club for the first time, almost threw Everton a lifeline after 16 minutes when he thumped a header against the crossbar. Sylvain Distin was offside as he bundled the loose ball in. Yet on the stroke of half-time, Mirallas did find the net as he beat Gary Cahill to Seamus Coleman’s cross.
That hope was nearly extinguished early in the second half when Phil Jagielka gave the ball away to Fabregas and Ramires put Costa clear but this time Howard made the save.
Chelsea did get their third after 67 minutes when Eden Hazard dribbled into the box and his low ball was deflected in by Coleman. It was the cue for Costa to make a beeline for the Everton man. Costa had been booked for shoving Coleman and now had words with the Irishman as he sat on the turf. It was ungracious and sparked a furious reaction from Howard, who earned a booking.
Mourinho accused “some Everton players of trying to create problems for Diego”, but Martinez responded pointedly: “I think there are certain foreign players who when they come to the Premier League need to understand the ethics. It is a completely different culture, and the last thing you want to be is disrespectful to another player even if he is in the opposing team.”
What followed after Coleman’s own goal was a remarkable spell of scoring. Steven Naismith poked in from an Aiden McGeady through-ball. Matic fired in off a post. Then Eto’o nodded a free-kick past Courtois. At 3-4, Goodison roared again but not for long. Sixty seconds later Ramires shot across Howard and into the Park End net. There was still time for Mirallas to hit a post before Costa rounded off the scoring after Muhamed Besic gave the ball away.
It was astonishing stuff. “I prefer to win 6-0,” added Mourinho, before highlighting once more the work of Costa. “In the first half he was tackling Coleman on the edge of our box. He recovered balls, he held the ball up, he was aggressive, he was face to face with Howard three times and scored two goals.” Mourinho has Loïc Rémy arriving to boost his attack after the departures of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba, Lukaku and Eto’o. It is Costa, though, who has already given them a new dimension. And, as if these goals were not enough, Chelsea also expect to complete the signing of Loic Rémy tomorrow.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; McCarthy, Barry; McGeady (Eto’o, 70), Naismith, Mirallas; Lukaku (Besic, 89).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian (Mikel, 75), Fabregas (Drogba, 89), Hazard (Filipe Luis, 83); Costa.

Referee: Jon Moss.
Man of the match: Matic (Chelsea).

Match rating: 8/10.

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Observer:

Chelsea’s Diego Costa seals win over Everton in nine-goal thriller

Daniel Taylor at Goodison Park

It was a scoreline that felt like a throwback to the era when football was watched in black and white and by the end of a wild, eccentric game Chelseahad emerged with an immaculate record to the new season and maybe, at the back of his mind, José Mourinho remembered the days when he used to say results like this belonged to hockey rather than football.
That period in the second half when the two sides shared five goals in 10 minutes certainly did not feel like the orthodox Mourinho experience. It incorporated a goal from Samuel Eto’o against his former club and, in brief passages, the gathering sense that Chelsea were straying dangerously close to being caught by persistent opponents. Instead, it ended up as a rout, with Diego Costa at the heart of it and ironic cries of “boring, boring Chelsea” from the away end.
Boring? Costa will probably think he should have scored a hat-trick, bearing in mind he had also run clear of Everton’s defence just before that blitz of second-half goals. Everton, too, had plenty of chances to add more goals of their own. Mourinho could probably be forgiven for thinking his team should have made it a more routine victory considering the two-goal head start Costa and Branislav Ivanovic had given them inside the opening three minutes. Yet Everton, even in defeat, deserve a measure of acclaim for the way they tried everything to repair the damage. It was just a pity for Roberto Martínez that his team’s defending was so abysmal.
Chelsea began like a team in a hurry. They attacked with a vibrancy that was too much for their opponents and they always made sure they had the final say when Everton kept coming back at them. Amid the blizzard of goals, it should not be forgotten either that Everton, already 2-0 down and looking in need of smelling salts, could have been down to 10 men inside the opening 10 minutes. Tim Howard, running from his goalline to cut out a long pass for Eden Hazard, was a good yard outside his area when he handled the ball, in keeping with a day when there was seldom anything but panic in the home side’s defence.
The last time they conceded six at Goodison came against Arsenal in August 2009. Cesc Fábregas was playing for the opposition that day, too. He was excellent here but then so were Nemanja Matic and Ramires alongside him in midfield. Costa had a running argument with Séamus Coleman and then Howard and took out his anger with his goals. His place had been in doubt because of a hamstring issue but his right-footed finish, after 35 seconds, was an early way of letting everyone know he was functioning perfectly well. He lasted the full match and his second goal, to complete the scoring, was another reminder that Chelsea now have a striker suitable for a club of their ambitions. Fernando Torres, we can safely say, was not missed.
Everton were entitled to be aggrieved about Ivanovic’s goal because he had been in a marginally offside position when he controlled Ramires’s pass and fired in his shot. The offside flag did then go up, correctly, when Romelu Lukaku headed a corner against the crossbar and Sylvain Distin squeezed the rebound over the line. That was in the 17th minute and perhaps the moment when Everton did realise they could trouble their opponents.
They showed commendable spirit for the rest of the first half and their energy, particularly on the right, was rewarded just before the break when Kevin Mirallas headed in Coleman’s cross. Martínez later described Everton’s attacking as “phenomenal”. Yet he was at a loss to understand what had gone wrong in their defence. “We probably had 1,100 Premier Leagueappearances in that back five,” he said.
Mourinho was also unhappy, albeit to a lesser extent, pointing out that he had spent an entire training session on Wednesday working for 90 minutes solid on his team’s defence and, in hindsight, he “should have stayed at home with my wife”. Yet there was one crucial difference: Chelsea made mistakes for Everton’s goals; Everton made them all afternoon.
Chelsea’s third goal came from a Hazard cross that Coleman deflected into his own net and that was the moment Costa apparently said something to taunt the Everton defender, bringing an incensed Howard out of his goalmouth to confront him. Costa had already been booked after ignoring the referee Jon Moss’s instructions to stop tangling with Coleman at a free-kick. Howard was shown a yellow card and for the rest of the match Costa seemed intent on prolonging the argument with Everton’s goalkeeper. Mourinho, one imagines, appreciates the devil in his new signing, even if it does hint at trouble ahead.
Aiden McGeady set up Steven Naismith to poke in Everton’s second goal a minute after that flashpoint and, once again, the home crowd dared to think the comeback might be on. Chelsea wasted little time disappointing them, Matic restoring the two-goal advantage with a left-foot drive from 20 yards. It was starting to feel difficult to keep up when Eto’o headed in Leighton Baines’s free-kick to make it 4-3 but Matic played in Ramires to fire in their fourth goal and then a poor backheel from Muhamed Besic left the home defence vulnerable again. Mikel showed him how to do it, leaving Costa running clear before taking the ball around Howard to complete the scoring.

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Telegraph:

Everton 3 Chelsea 6:

Diego Costa scores twice and Samuel Eto'o scores on his debut in surreal thriller at Goodison

By Chris Bascombe, at Goodison Park

Chelsea score twice inside the opening three minutes and three more times in a chaotic 11-minute spell in the second half on its way to a wild win at Goodison Park

Diego Costa did not so much ease Fernando Torres out the door at Chelseaas prepare a farewell video of how it should have been done.
Jose Mourinho described this as the complete centreforward’s performance from the £32 million striker. Full of brooding menace, occasional tantrums and the killer instinct that yielded two goals in a 6-3 win at Everton. At a traditionally inhospitable venue, he provoked the hosts into both scowls and grudging admiration.
Even the managers were at odds over Costa’s on-field demeanour as he did not so much leave his mark as trample over every second of this game. For the first time since Didier Drogba led the line, Chelsea have a striker equally comfortable in a trench war or playing the role of sniper.
“He gave a fantastic performance in every aspect,” said Mourinho.
“I remember in the first half he was tackling Coleman in the edge of our box. He was holding balls. He was aggressive. He was face to face. He had three chances and scored two goals. It is not just the final touch, he participates in everything.”
A year ago, Mourinho stood outside Goodison’s press room and declared he knew his Chelsea side did not have what it takes to be successful in his first season, lamenting the lack of strikers.
The only thing he needs to guard against now is the premature coronation of his side because, putting aside the uncharacteristic defensive errors, this must have terrified the rest of the Premier League.
Even those he got rid of scored here – Samuel Eto’o came off the bench to head in on his Everton debut – to ensure the Chelsea manager was both thrilled and disturbed by the beguiling and bewildering performance.
Thrilling in attack, combustible in defence, it was as if the Chelsea manager wanted to show Roberto Martinez there is no Merseyside monopoly on throwing off the shackles.
Mourinho’s last title winning side was based on conservatism, but this served to confirm if Chelsea are to win the Premier League this season, they will not do so with a side recreated in the image of the past.
Perhaps the shift is not so much philosophical as practical. Mourinho has assembled an even more lethal pool of offensive talent, Cesc Fabregas as influential as Costa. The duo have struck an understanding that already has the potential to define this Premier League season. For Drogba and Frank Lampard read Fabregas and Costa.
They combined for one of the more rampant starts to a Premier League fixture you will see this season, the referee’s whistle signalling a gallop towards Tim Howard’s goal. Costa needed only 35 seconds to grab his third goal of the season. Fabregas’ weight of pass is so accurate the referees should be checking his pockets for scales.
Martinez barely had time to calculate what had gone wrong when Branislav Ivanovic put Chelsea two-up.
As with the first, Everton’s defenders sought an offside flag but Phil Jagielka looked as leggy from the early stages as he had in injury time against Arsenal last weekend.
There was an inch in it – the linesman’s flag should have been raised – but that did not justify the limpness of the defending, nor diminish the quality of Chelsea’s forward play. Had Howard’s clear handball on nine minutes been spotted, Everton would have been reduced to ten men.
Everton rallied, Romelu Lukaku headed against the bar and Kevin Mirallas glanced past Thibaut Courtois to restore home morale.
The second half was freakish, five goals following in eight minutes as twice Chelsea put themselves into a position of comfort only for Everton to strike back.
Seamus Coleman’s own goal; Nemanja Matic and Ramires for Chelsea; Naismith and Eto’o for Everton; causing both managers to extol their attacking side’s virtues and vow to extinguish the defensive flaws.
“I prefer to win 6-0 playing fantastically offensively and defensively. I want the team to play the way they did. I told them we have to score goals but to concede three is too much,” said Mourinho.
“I can clearly identify the mistakes, where we failed, but when you come to this stadium and get three points you can be happy when you score six goals. Since the game at Burnley people have the feeling we are playing in a different way. We were trying to press them up and have the initiative. I want to be different to play good football and score more goals, but not different in conceding three goals.”
Martinez, who normally finds positives in the most difficult of circumstances, was critical of his defence.
“We were very good going forward in the way we created chances but so disappointing in that we were too soft with our defending,” said Martinez.
“There was a sense of fear the ball would end up in the back of the net. Ten goals conceded in three games is not us.
Mourinho knows it is high calibre performances at this kind of venue that are studied for evidence of championship material, especially given Manchester City’s slip on Saturday.
From what we have seen thus far, he won’t be making any reference to his little horses in the title race this season. In attack, at least, Chelsea already have the look of thoroughbreds.

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Times:

Diego Costa lights up nine-goal thriller for Chelsea
Everton 3 Chelsea 6

James Masters

Remember the days when critics used to chastise José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, with chants of “boring, boring Chelsea”?
Those critics will have to hold their tongues after this astonishing contest in which Chelsea claimed a third successive league victory to move top of the Barclays Premier League.
Two goals in the opening three minutes allowed Chelsea to take charge of the game and although Everton fought back valiantly, they never appeared likely to prevent the visiting team from claiming all three points.
This frenetic contest was like something you would witness in the school playground as both teams threw down their jumpers and went at each other from the first minute.
Unfortunately for Everton, it was they who looked like the infant school in the opening 45 minutes against the big kids from London.
Led by Diego Costa, who recovered in time from a minor hamstring strain to take his place in the starting line-up, Chelsea began with the style and swagger which you would expect.
There was not even time for Costa to ease himself back into action for within 35 seconds he had already netted the first goal of the afternoon without Everton even managing to touch the ball.
Mourinho reserved special praise for his new striker. “Diego Costa had three chances and he scored two goals,” the Chelsea manager said. “He is a good finisher and he gives us a lot.”
From the kick-off, Chelsea kept possession and when Cesc Fàbregas produced a sumptuous through-ball, Costa eluded the offside trap and calmly slid the ball past the helpless Tim Howard.
Everton, arms raised and with faces scarred by disbelief, were still in a state of shock by the time Chelsea doubled their advantage just over two minutes later.
Once again it was Costa who played an integral part in the move, exchanging passes with Ramires before the ball was slipped through for Branislav Ivanovic to rifle home from close-range despite more protests from the home side.
Everton, clearly in disarray, then suffered an almighty reprieve when Jon Moss, the referee, failed to spot that Howard had quite clearly handled the ball outside of his area as he rushed out to meet Eden Hazard.
Howard should have seen red given that he was at least a yard outside his penalty area when gathering, with his sheepish reaction and a clap of the hands giving the look of a guilty man.
His escape, which came within the opening ten minutes, appeared to give Everton a temporary lift as the home side slowly but surely began to find their feet.
Romelu Lukaku headed against the crossbar from an Aiden McGeady corner and while the rebound was correctly flagged offside after Sylvain Distin had rolled the ball home, Everton began to emerge from their slumber.
Their hope was rewarded just before the interval when Everton broke quickly. Seamus Coleman produced a cross of unerring accuracy, Kevin Mirallas was on hand to head the ball past Thibaut Courtois and rewrite his manager’s half-time team-talk.
Whatever Roberto Martínez, the Everton manager, said to his players appeared to have the desired effect as they emerged like a different side.
Playing at tempo and managing to retain possession, Everton began to dominate with Lukaku wasting a decent opening by blasting the ball harmlessly over the crossbar from 20 yards.
But while Everton looked dangerous going forward, the fragility of their defence continued to cause anxiety and Howard produced a fine save to deny Costa after the forward had burst through on goal after a mistake by Phil Jagielka.
Yet there was little Howard could do when Hazard embarked on a mazy run down the right and his effort was deflected into the net by the unfortunate Coleman after 67 minutes.
Two goals down and with the game becoming ever more fractious, some sides might have succumbed to their fate, but this Everton side refused to surrender.
Within two minutes, Steven Naismith, who had scored in both of his team’s previous Premier League fixtures, rounded off a fine move with a fierce drive that left Courtois with no chance.
The crescendo around Goodison was something to behold as Samuel Eto’o, formerly of Chelsea, walked on to make his debut with Everton in the ascendancy.
But every time Everton threatened to fight back, Chelsea re-established their advantage with Nemanja Matic firing home from the edge of the penalty area to make it 4-2.
Mourinho did not appear entirely pleased with what was a fantastic spectacle for the neutral observer, saying: “If the salt and the pepper of football is goals then to have nine goals in a Premier League match is fantastic ingredients.”

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Mail:

Everton 3-6 Chelsea: Quickfire Diego Costa sparks goal rush as Blues maintain perfect start

By Nick Harris

Chelsea stormed to the top of the Premier League amid a blizzard of nine goals from eight separate scorers in a match bookended by two strikes from Diego Costa.
The Spaniard is proving lethal since his £32million move from Atletico Madrid and now has four goals in three league games.
But it was an older Chelsea hand, Ramires, who pulled many of the strings in an ultimately impressive victory which keeps Everton waiting for their first win this season.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez made just one change from the starting XI who let slip a 2-0 lead against Arsenal at home last week, Aiden McGeady replacing the injured Steven Pienaar. Two recent former Chelsea employees were involved, with £28million Romelu Lukaku starting up front and Samuel Eto’o on the bench having joined on a free transfer last week. 
Jose Mourinho has seen four strikers leave Stamford Bridge this summer, selling Lukaku to Everton and Demba Ba to Besiktas, not offering Eto’o a further deal and loaning Fernando Torres — the unhappy Spaniard with that £50m millstone around his neck — to Milan for two years.
Mourinho made two changes from the side who beat Leicester 2-0, bringing in Ramires and Willian for Andre Schurrle, who is recovering from injury, and Oscar, who was injured in training on Friday.
Ramires’ impact was immediate, starting the move that ended with the Chelsea a goal up within 35 seconds. He passed to Willian, who found Cesc Fabregas, who again showed the vision and execution that are likely to make him a player of the season contender as he bisected Everton’s defence with a through ball to Diego Costa.
The 25-year-old striker made a brilliantly timed diagonal run behind Syvlain Distin to collect the ball, take one touch and slam it through Tim Howard’s legs.
Everton were rocked and Chelsea took quick advantage, with Costa and Ramires both instrumental again. Costa on the left slotted right to Ramires in the D, from where he slid a pass to Branislav Ivanovic, who fired right-footed across Howard and into the left-hand side of the goal. Replays showed Ivanovic to have been marginally offside as the final ball was played but the officials saw nothing wrong and the visitors were two up in three minutes.
Referee Jonathan Moss did Everton a slight favour five minutes later when Howard ran out to catch a ball forward to Ramires, and caught it while appearing to be marginally outside his area. Instead of a handball, Moss allowed play to continue.
Everton first had the ball in the net in the 16th minute, Sylvain Distin bundling over the line after being hit by a rebound off the bar from Lukaku header. But Distin was deemed offside and it didn’t count.
Steven Naismith shot wide a minute later and with Everton applying pressure throughout the first half, they were eventually rewarded just before the break. McGeady broke from midfield and laid off to Seamus Coleman, who crossed perfectly for Kevin Mirallas to send a powerful header beyond Thibaut Courtois.
Everton started the second half brightly, Lukaku shooting over and Distin threatening with a header.
It took seven minutes for Chelsea to settle after the break and then threaten again, Ramires feeding Costa, who ran on goal alone. Howard came forward to close down his options and Costa unleashed a shot which the American managed to toe wide — just. Costa’s next shot shortly afterwards was straight at Howard.
At the other end, Naismith had an effort blocked by John Terry, then Costa was booked for an altercation with Coleman before resuming his role as a nuisance, collecting from Fabregas and distributing to Ivanovic, who shot wide.
Chelsea extended their lead when Eden Hazard progressed to the left side of the six-yard box and slid in a ball that took a deflection off Coleman for an own goal, sparking an altercation that saw Howard booked. But Everton cut the deficit within two minutes, McGeady releasing Naismith to make the score 3-2.
Ramires played the provider role again in the 74th minute for Nemanja Matic, who smashed a left-foot shot in off the right-hand post to restore the cushion. Eto’o, just on as a substitute for McGeady, pulled back another goal for Everton two minutes later, but Ramires made it 5-3 with a neat finish over Howard after a one-two with Matic.
Costa finished things off in the last minute, rounding Howard and scoring left-footed following a misplaced backheel by substitute Muhamed Besic.
Astonishing.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, McGeady (Eto'o 70), Lukaku (Besic 89).
Subs Not Used: Robles, Gibson, Osman, Stones, Alcaraz.

Booked: Howard.
Goals: Mirallas 45, Naismith 69, Eto'o 76.

Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic,Willian (Mikel 75),Fabregas (Drogba 89),Hazard (Luis 83), Costa.
Subs Not Used: Cech, Zouma, Schurrle, Salah.

Booked: Costa, Ramires, Fabregas.
Goals: Costa 1, Ivanovic 3, Coleman 67 og, Matic 74, Ramires 77, Costa 90.

Att: 39,402
Ref: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).

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Mirror:

Everton 3-6 Chelsea: Jose Mourinho's men come out on top in crazy Goodison goal-fest

By Dave Kidd

The London side side go back to the top of the table after a NINE GOAL thriller on Merseyside

After just three minutes of this match, it was clear this would be a special Saturday afternoon for the Special One.
Fernando Torres had finally wafted out of Stamford Bridge, with a classy replacement snapped up in Loic Remy.
Rivals Manchester City had suffered a shock home defeat against Stoke.
And then Chelsea found themselves two goals up at their least favourite ground, almost before the Goodison Park PA system had stopped rattling out the Z Cars theme.
The barnstorming Diego Costa, who was expected to miss the match through injury, netted twice to make it four goals in three games since his £32m move from Atletico Madrid.
And, at one point, there were five goals in 11 second-half minutes as the teams exchanged scores back and forth.
Mourinho now has a team capable of producing the breakneck excitement demanded by owner Roman Abramovich.
Roberto Martinez was left exasperated by a bullet-ridden defence, who have conceded 10 goals in three matches. But this was all about Chelsea’s attacking verve – even though you might have expected them to arrive with ­trepidation.
The Londoners had lost on three of their previous four visits here. Yet, Chelsea always had their noses in front.
Costa seized the lead within 35 seconds. A slick passing move ended with Cesc Fabregas slipping one through for Costa, who sent a shot through Howard’s grasp.
Before Everton could retaliate, Costa cut back for Ramires, who fed Branislav Ivanovic.
The Serb was fractionally offside, but the flag stayed down and he took full advantage with a thumping finish.
The errant linesman evened things up after seven minutes when Howard – under pressure from Costa – clearly handled outside his box, but got off scot-free.
Lukaku made his presence felt when he thundered a header off the underside of the bar from an Aidan McGeady corner and Sylvain Distin poked home – only to be correctly ruled offside.
There was plenty of Everton pressure, but little suggestion that Chelseawould yield until the final minute of the first half when Seamus Coleman whipped one in and Mirallas got in front of Gary Cahill to head inside the far post.
Howard’s second brainstorm occurred in the aftermath of Chelsea’s third goal on 66 minutes.
Eden Hazard slipped free of James McCarthy down the left, reached the bye-line and tried a cut-back, which Coleman diverted into his own net.
Costa appeared to direct a taunt at a prone Coleman, sparking fury from Howard, who pushed his head into first Costa and then Cesar Azpilicueta – with ref Jon Moss producing only a yellow card.
This sparked a frenzy of goals – first Steven Naismith latched on to a McCarthy pass and drilled home Everton’s second for 3-2. Then Nemanja Matic arrowed in a left-foot drive from 20 yards, only for debutant Samuel Eto’o to head home a Leighton Baines free-kick – minutes after arriving as a sub.
Next, Ramires exchanged pass with Matic and cut in from the right to make it 5-3.
Finally, John Obi Mikel produced a back-heel for Costa to round Distin and shoot past a stranded Howard.
It was breathless and it was utterly bonkers, but Chelsea are top of the league – and are going to take some catching.
Afterwards, Mourinho said: “I think if salt and pepper of football is goals, to have nine goals in a Premier League match is fantastic ­ingredients.
“But, in the end, we were killers in attack – especially in counter-attack.”

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Express:

Everton 3 - Chelsea 6: Diego Costa leads Mourinho past battling Toffees

SAMUEL ETO’O and Everton both made their points in defeat – but Diego Costa ensured that Chelsea present usurped Chelsea past.

By: Mike Whalley

Eto’o, forced out of Chelsea during the summer as his relationship with Jose Mourinho deteriorated, at least had the satisfaction of a debut goal for his new club against his former employers.
But the Chelsea manager’s reshaping of his squad is paying off. Three games have brought three wins, 11 goals and top spot in the Premier League. Costa, the £32million buy from Atletico Madrid, has scored four of them. They will be hard to stop this season.
Everton gave it a go in a thrilling, breathless match. And had they not been playing catch-up after an awful start, they might have brought Mourinho’s men down a peg or two.
As it was, neither Eto’o nor his fellow former Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku could make the difference for Everton. Chelsea just had too many goals in them for that. Loic Remy will have a job getting a game in this side.
It was Costa who had the first and last words. For a player who was supposed to be struggling with a hamstring injury in the build-up to kick-off, this was a fast start and an impressive finish.
Only 37 seconds had been played when Costa had the ball in Everton’s net, becoming the first Chelsea player to score in his first three games for the club since Adrian Mutu in 2003.
The home side were stretched to breaking point by the rapid passing of Ramires, Willian and Cesc Fabregas, who played the through-ball for Costa to drill a shot between Tim Howard and his near post.
Barely two minutes later, Chelsea had scored again, although a little more fortunately.
Ramires played in the marauding Branislav Ivanovic to lash in a second from a marginally-offside position.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard, at one point, had a brain freeze as he handled a Fabregas through-ball outside his penalty area; fortunately for the American, so too did the officials, as they failed to spot it.
Slowly, Everton began to show signs of life. Lukaku headed an Aiden McGeady corner against the bar, and Sylvain Distin bundled in the rebound, only to be correctly ruled offside. And then, with half-time approaching, came Everton hope.
McGeady fed the adventurous Seamus Coleman down the right, and Kevin Mirallas got above Gary Cahill to meet the ball with a towering header that tore into the net.
Costa could have put the match beyond Everton’s reach early in the second half when put in behind Everton’s creaking defence by a Ramires pass, but Howard blocked with his foot.
When the third Chelsea goal did arrive, it was reward for Eden Hazard’s attacking spirit, aided by a touch of luck. The Belgian winger darted in from the left and found the net via a deflection off Coleman.
Everton’s instant response – with Steven Naismith slotting in a deserved goal from McGeady’s run and pass – suggested they could find a way back into the game.
And there were plenty more twists to come in an extraordinary game. Nemanja Matic, set up by Ramires, drove in a fourth Chelsea goal from the edge of the penalty area, via the inside of the post.
Within minutes, Eto’o had given Everton a third, with a beautifully placed header from Leighton Baines’ free-kick.
In the end, though, Everton left themselves too much to do. Ramires finished after playing a one-two with Matic, before Costa pounced on a defensive error to score decisively.

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Star:

Everton 3 Chelsea 6: You sixy beasts! Costa del goals as Mourinho's men lay down a marker
SO this is why Jose Mourinho was happy to splash out £32million for striker Diego Costa.

By Gary Doolan

The summer signing from Atletico Madrid scored Chelsea's opening goals in their victories against newly-promoted Burnley and Leicester.
And against an Everton side expected to provide a tougher test, the prolific Spaniard did it again.
On the day Mourinho finally got rid of £50m misfit Fernando Torres, new-boy Costa took just 35 seconds to fire Chelsea on the way to a win that lifted them top of the league.
And he wrapped up a thrilling win with his second in the final minute of normal time.
Despite former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o coming off the bench in the second half to pull Everton back into the game with his first goal for the club, Mourinho's men proved their credentials with a third straight win.
There had been doubts over the fitness of Costa after he picked up a hamstring injury in training in midweek. There had even been fears he could be sidelined for up to six weeks.
But he blew those worries away by catching Everton's defence cold after just 35 seconds.
It was quick thinking from another summer arrival, Cesc Fabregas, which sliced up the home side's static back line.
The pass gave Costa the edge and he whipped his shot across World Cup hero Tim Howard.
The Toffees were visibly stunned but there was so much worse to follow as Branislav Ivanovic forced Howard to pick the ball out the net again just two minutes later.
Everton's defenders screamed for offside but Ramires played on to slip Ivanovic through and he converted.
It was 15 minutes before Everton managed a shot on the visitors' goal as Chelsea threw men behind the ball to protect a lead they hoped would be enough to take them top of the table.
If Chelsea were happy to defend their lead, Everton seemed just as content not to expose themselves at the back too often in the pursuit of a way back into the match.
But just as Everton had been caught asleep at the start of the first half, so Chelsea were caught napping as referee Jon Moss was about to blow for half-time.
Seamus Coleman floated a ball into the box which should have been hoofed back from where it came. Instead, Mirallas climbed between Gary Cahill and John Terry to head beyond Thibaut Courtois.
While there had been periods of stalemate before the break, the goals came thick and fast after the restart.
Eden Hazard forced a 67th-minute shot in off Coleman as Howard grasped for the ball.
Chelsea were not having it all their own way and in-form Scot Steven Naismith showed again his new-found confidence under Martinez by powering clear to pull a goal back just two minutes later.
Nemanja Matic thought he had put the clash beyond the spirited home side just four minutes later with a long-range effort that spun through a ruck of legs to drift past Howard.
But Eto'o had other ideas, taking just six minutes after coming off the bench to head firmly past Courtois in the 75th minute.
Ramires restored Chelsea's two-goal advantage two minutes later, flicking effortlessly past Howard.
Costa added the sixth in the final minute of normal time, feinting to put Howard on his backside before firing in.

EVERTON: Howard 5; Coleman 7, Jagielka 6, Distin 5, Baines 5; McCarthy 6, Barry 6; McGeady 6 (Eto'o (69th) 6), Naismith 7, Mirallas 7; Lukaku 7 (Besic 88th)

CHELSEA: Courtois 6; Ivanovic 7, Cahill 6, Terry 6, Azpilicueta 5; Fabregas 7 (Drogba 88th), Matic 7; Willian 6 (Obi (74th) 6), Ramires 7, Hazard 7 (Luis 82nd); Costa 9
Star Man: Diego Costa

Ref: J Moss