It’s Chelsea at the top of the pile at the end of a Premier League weekend for the first time this season.

In the campaign of a title aspirant, for every sparkling 5-0 home win there’s an unglamorous, gritty 1-0 victory away from home and that was what Antonio Conte’s side delivered against Boro.

Six clean sheets and six wins on the trot, buttressed by a seemingly impenetrable three-man defence, would have been beyond the wildest dreams of even Conte with his side reeling at half time against Arsenal; his side have swept all before them since then.

Diego Costa got the only goal of the game in the 40th minute and it was an important time for the Blues to open the scoring or the hosts, who held Manchester City in their last game, would have taken real heart and had the chance to tactically regroup.

Pedro, who hit the bar, and the excellent Victor Moses had chances to extend the lead in the second half but this was a display of real character from Chelsea either way.

Thibaut Courtois: Rarely tested by the Boro frontline but made a smart stop from Traore’s volley. A commanding presence. 7

Cesar Azpilicueta: Caught on the hop by Ramirez at times in the opening exchanges but settled into his rhythm soon enough. 6

Cesar Azpilicueta

David Luiz: It wouldn’t be Luiz without a couple of attacking flourishes, yet these came mostly in the second half with the gritty work done. He holds this back three together nicely. 7

Gary Cahill: The England man is clearly profiting from the backing he has been given from Conte and was on hand to rebut what there was of Middlesbrough’s threat. 7

Victor Moses: If you’d told Chelsea fans that Moses would be an indispensable part of their side a year ago, many would have spluttered into their pre-match pint. This was a dynamic, tactically engaged performance from him. 8

N’Golo Kante: Not his most efficient of performances and he gave the ball away sloppily on a couple of occasions. His work-rate sets the standard for this team. 6

Nemanja Matic: Metronomic accuracy in terms of passing, barely failing to find a blue shirt when distributing. The Serbian put himself about physically, hobbling through the mixed zone on his way to the team bus. 8

Marcos Alonso: Any individual failings he might have are mitigated against by the smooth running of this system, in which he is thriving. Ambitious going forward and made use of the overlap well. 7

Eden Hazard: His renewed willingness to put shots on goal has been a leitmotif of his play this season, while he didn’t test Valdes directly the Belgian’s rapier-like dribbling was a conspicuous danger. 7

Diego Costa: Costa is a force of nature when on song and not only did he score an adroit winner today but his linking and hold-up play greased the wheels of Chelsea’s forward efforts. 8

Pedro: Came closer than anyone to adding a second when he rattled the bar in the second half. A sharp mover, capable of opening up space for others, who excelled in this attacking trio. 7

Nathaniel Chalobah, Branislav Ivanovic and Oscar were all introduced late on and had little impact on the dynamics of the game.