Fastest Player To Reach 100 Assist Milestone; Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas Continues To Prove Doubters Wrong.

As Antonio Conte’s Chelsea won their 13th Premier League game in a row on Saturday night, one man that took most of the shine alongside Brazilian Willian is no one else but Spaniard cesc Fabregas who became the fastest player to reach the 100 assists milestone in the Premier League after he assisted Willian’s goal having earlier assisted Gary Cahill’s opening goal.
This was perhaps Fabregas’ fifth assist of the season despite playing only 10 games with most of them as a substitute. Fabregas’ impressive form is shocking to even the most optimistic fan considering it took him six games before making his first league start which ended badly (3-0 loss) away against Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. Heavily criticised and scorned, it will take an injury to first choice midfielder Nemanja Matic for the Spaniard to make another start, but this time the difference was his impressive display having set up Diego Costa for Chelsea’s first goal in a game that ended 3-1 in favour of the West London side against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Etihad. Initially branded an “unproven featherweight” by former Arsenal teammate Ashley Cole in his autobiography, Fabregas has not only improved with his defensive ability but also become much more difficult in physical duels at Chelsea. Though not as defensively solid as Matic, the midfielder has mastered the art of dictating the tempo and flow of the game from deep which gives him the freedom to create chances from distance for his team mates. This season already, the £30 million signing from Barcelona in 2014 has created 19 chances coupled with his 353 completed passes of which 87% were forward passes. Fabregas was also the hero for Chelsea as he scored the lone goal in the 1-0 away win at Sunderland which made it Chelsea’s 10th straight win this season. On Saturday against Mark Hughes Stoke City, the Spaniard was the star on the day, attempting and completing the most passes (67 attempted , 56 completed), creating the most chances (five chances two assists) and also completing two crosses. Such has been Fabregas’ passing prowess that he has been able to provide 100 assists in just 293 league appearances for both Arsenal and Chelsea which is way prolific when compared in to the likes of Wayne Rooney (101 assists in 445 games), Frank Lampard (103 assists in 559 games) and Ryan Giggs (167 assists in 367 games). Fabregas is also the only non-British player to provide over 100 assists in the Premier League. This clearly shows the Spaniard will need to do a lot more to reach the feat achieved by Giggs, yet it takes away nothing from the fact that he is already a Premier League legend while still active.
As Fabregas continues to have a run in the team, by now it is clear that Antonio Conte must have realised his team are better in attack with Spaniard in the thick of action considering his vision, finding the back of the net when least expected and creating something out of nothing as Chelsea march to the title judging from their devastating form.
Stats by Opta.