Jose Mourinho had placed the Barclays Premier League ’ s joint-top goalscorer on standby for this match , insisting he would only turn to Diego Costa if absolutely necessary . As it turned out , the emergency glass needed to be broken . The £32million striker was required to stop Chelsea squandering the opportunity to open a seven-point advantage over their title rivals . Yet all they got was 11 minutes before Costa was forced off with a recurrence of the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the international break with Spain . Chelsea striker Diego Costa limped off with a hamstring injury shortly after coming on at the interval . Will he be out for a week , a month , two months , maybe more ? ‘ It ’ s too early , ’ said Mourinho , who went on to defend throwing Costa on . ‘ I don ’ t say “ gamble ” because we did every test , every scan , the player trained for two days , he was 100 per cent with the team . ‘ The medical department were convinced he was ready . The player was convinced he was ready . Not for 90 minutes but he was ready to play and to help the team. ’ In the meantime a chunk of the Chelsea contingent will be wondering how they fill the void left by Costa . They need look no further than this win against Stoke as the answer presents itself in the form of Loic Remy and , of course , Eden Hazard . Blues striker Costa looks despondent as he sits on the turf following another injury to his hamstring . Hazard scored and assisted in the same Premier League match for the seventh time , and looked like a man ready to rubbish the idea he was too tired to play a full 90 minutes for Belgium in midweek . He tormented the Stoke defence here at Stamford Bridge , and has scored more Premier League goals for Chelsea over the past three seasons than any other player . That ’ s 35 , by the way . So , too , was Remy equally as clinical against Stoke . Acting as Costa ’ s replacement for the starting XI , he proved more than a handful for the visitors on his fourth start for Chelsea in the Premier League . It took an outstanding one-handed save from Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic at full stretch to deny Remy ’ s deflected shot from giving Chelsea the lead after just three minutes . Then , four minutes later , it was him again , going close as his curled shot skipped agonisingly wide of the far post . The man turned down by Liverpool was given the unfortunate task of trying to fill the boots of Costa , but rarely looked shy in doing so . Yet it remained 0-0 as half time approached . Was it time for Mourinho to roll the dice ? It was in the 32nd minute his patience wore thin . Costa looks in pain after pulling up at Stamford Bridge during Chelsea 's 2-1 win over Stoke City . Chelsea gave away possession in the final third – not for the first time – and a frowning Mourinho turned to his substitutes ’ bench , gestured at Costa with a nod , and the striker began warming up down the touchline . A sign he was to be introduced soon enough . It took a smidgen of luck for the deadlock to be broken thanks to the quick feet of Cesc Fabregas earning a penalty , and Hazard was cool as ever in putting Chelsea ahead . Never in doubt , as no player in Premier League history has taken more and never missed than Hazard . Yet Stamford Bridge ’ s celebrations were short-lived . Mourinho ’ s frustration grew when Charlie Adam channelled his inner David Beckham and scored from more than 60 yards out . With Thibaut Courtois left embarrassed , Mourinho knew it was time to ‘ gamble ’ . Jose Mourinho was happy to have gambled with Costa 's fitness despite losing the striker after 10 minutes . Off went Oscar , on came Costa for the second half . No sooner had he been on the pitch than he had to come off . He signalled to the bench after just 10 minutes and was replaced by veteran Didier Drogba . Yet this was all about Chelsea 's go-to guy , Hazard , and Costa ’ s worthy replacement , Remy . ‘ We have three strikers , ’ Mourinho declared afterwards . ‘ We decided at the beginning of the season to go more with Diego . He won the right of being first choice. ’ But by this evidence , Chelsea supporters need not lose sleep over their first-choice striker 's injury . As Stoke found out , Remy can fill the gap left by Costa , and Hazard is simply every bit a Premier League title winner in the making . Eden Hazard steps up to stroke home the opener for Chelsea from the penalty spot in the first half . Remy finishes to put Chelsea back in front after a mistake from Stoke City keeper Begovic .
Chelsea would be without top scorer Diego Costa for at least three seasons . The $ 32 m fee prevented recurrence of hamstring injury against Stoke . ben Remy and Eden Hazard scored in 2 - 1 victory at Stamford Bridge .