Cesc Fabregas has hailed former Chelsea striker Diego Costa following his phenomenal performance in the European Super Cup.
Costa starred as Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 4-2 in Estonia last night, scoring two goals and setting up another on a memorable night for Diego Simeone’s side.
The 29-year-old opened the scoring in just the first minute with a powerful run and finish, and scored his second of the night late in the second half to make the scores 2-2 after goals for Madrid from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos.
Saul Niguez scored a stunning third for Atletico in extra-time before Costa turned provider for Koke to complete the scoring,
And following Costa’s Man of the Match display, former Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas took to Twitter to praise his international compatriot.
“DIEGO”, simply tweeted Fabregas following Costa’s opening goal, before adding: “Diego again. What a player man.” after his second strike of night.
DIEGO
— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) August 15, 2018
Diego again. What a player man.
— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) August 15, 2018
Costa spent three successful seasons at Stamford Bridge between 2014-2017, scoring 59 times and winning two Premier League titles and a League Cup.
The Spain international fell out of favour with former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte however during the back end of his Blues career, resulting him returning to former club Atletico last summer.
Costa has been a sorely missed figure at The Bridge since his departure, with his replacement Alvaro Morata failing to produce the goods after his club record move from Real Madrid last year.
Chelsea star Willian recently spoke of the club’s – or more specifically Antonio Conte’s – mistake of letting Costa leave last year, and admits the Blues have struggled without him.
“He also had problems with David Luiz and Costa,” Willian told ESPN. “With Diego, I remember it was after the season. I was in Australia with Brazil and Diego texted me.
“He said: ‘I’m leaving, Conte said he doesn’t need me anymore’. I said: ‘What do you mean?’ And he said: ‘He texted me saying that he doesn’t need me on the team anymore and I’m not supposed to go back’.
“You don’t lose a player like Diego Costa. It was a difficult situation.”