A belligerent centre forward who can hold it up and use it and score with head and boot.
But the Brazilian-born Costa is, of course, much more athletic than Hartson.
This was what I was thinking as I watched Middlesbrough v Chelsea yesterday as my warm-up for Murray v Djokovic.
Antonio Conte has proved to be a very good manager for Costa, partly because he has put Hazard closer to his mate.
Costa still has that rage to win but is more focused now.
Unlike some goalscorers, he will give you the ball back. He’s not ridiculously selfish, as some prolific strikers tend to be.
The only goal of the game came in 41 minutes, a great time to score if yo’re an away team with a sound defence.
Hazard took a corner from the left, the ball hit a defender and popped up in the air, Costa’s left foot snaked out and volleyed home from two yards.
A fantastic reflex finish by an impressive professional gladiator.
That was Costa’s 8th goal in 9 league games.
It’s a bit weird that Diego Costa, the best centre forward in the Premier League, isn’t playing in the Champions League this season..
Costa was a very good team player at Atletico Madrid, and some of his improvised passes for Chelsea are balls that no other player in this league could provide. He’s a remarkably efficient footballer in a team that always tries hard to be professional.
When David Luiz fired a nice ball forward in 63, Costa nodded sweetly back to Pedro, who hit a shot that rebounded off the underside. A Goal of the Month contender if it had gone in. I thought: Mata would have buried that with his eyes shut.
I know I promised not to comment on the title race until 20 games have been played, because it’s so tight. But as this game went on, and I watched N’Golo Kante closely, the more I realised that Kante is one of Europe’s most potent skirmishers, much more of a dynamo that the marvellous Makelele ever was.
Kante could win the Premier League two years in a row.
Last night Mark Lawrenson said Chelsea look as if they’ve been playing 3-4-3 for 18 months.
Six wins in six games puts Chelsea to of the table, one point above Liverpool and Man City. Goals conceded in those six games : 0
Next Saturday at 5.30 pm : Chelsea v Tottenham