'Magic' Fabregas excels as Chelsea sweep aside Swans

 

At half time of Chelsea's 3-1 win over Swansea on Saturday, club legend Frank Lampard was re-introduced to the Blues’ adoring fan base. The midfielder only recently called time on his career and after making a successful career for himself for the west London side and - in his very early years - turning out for Swansea, it made sense for the former England international to earn the adulation from the home support. However, while off the pitch, Lampard was celebrating his triumphant return to the club that made him a Premier League legend and given the chance to thank the fans and the club for his time there, on it, Cesc Fabregas was the man of the hour for the league leaders. 

 

The Spaniard was making his first Premier League start since the 4-2 win over Stoke City on New Year’s Eve, but - more pertinently - his 300th appearance in England’s top tier. Taking Nemanja Matic’s place in the starting XI alongside the irrepressible N’Golo Kante, Fabregas was starting just his 6th Premier League game of the season, presumably with a view to unlocking the Swansea backline through guile rather than power. 

 

As effective as Matic has been in the middle of the park, he doesn’t offer the distribution qualities to match Fabregas from deep, which was vital against a Swansea side that looked to sit back and hit the Blues on the break where possible. Fabregas, of course, marked the occasion with a first half goal and could have had a second had it not been for a stunning Lukasz Fabianski save to deny the 29-year-old. 

 

Fine margins playing a role in the encounter at Stamford Bridge, Fabregas rattled an effort off the bar early in the second half to come perilously close to putting Chelsea back in front after Fernando Llorente expertly headed the Swans level on the stroke of half time. Yet, it was more to Fabregas’ performance that earned him the accolades and a wet and windy afternoon in west London. Some may not have envisioned Fabregas reaching such a landmark in the first place. Having been forced to watch from the bench for much of the campaign, the Spain international was heavily linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, with a Serie A switch mooted. 

 

Yet, having provided the assist for Pedro’s first and Chelsea’s second after the interval, manager Antonio Conte was completed justified in his decision to start Fabregas. Poetically, Fabregas’ assist for Pedro was his 102nd in the Premier League to take him level with - you guessed it - Frank Lampard. While he still has some way to go before he breaks Ryan Giggs’ record, the Welshman reaching 162 top-flight assists during his Manchester United career, Fabregas gave a superb account of himself once more against Swansea and prove to Conte just why he warrants a regular starting berth. 

 

 

With Swansea mustering just 34.1% possession at Stamford Bridge, they were forced to remain compact in order to limit Chelsea’s attacking line. That certainly did not deter the hosts, however, who still mustered 16 shots on goal over the 90 minutes, with Diego Costa’s goal six minutes from time guaranteeing Chelsea a vital three points in their quest for domestic glory, with the 3-1 victory also ensuring that it is now mathematically impossible for Leicester to defend their Premier League crown as the Blues moved 11 points clear at the Premier League’s summit. 

 

Fabregas certainly pulled the strings with ruthless efficiency in the middle of the park, playing more key passes (5) than any other player and three more than Swansea (2) as a whole. Having had more touches (127) and played more passes (108) than any other player at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea evidently looked to Fabregas to pry apart the Swansea backline as he rightly earned the WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 9.20. With Pedro, Hazard and Costa all routinely on the move - not to mention Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso breaking forward to stretch opponents - his creative qualities were always going to shine through for the welcome of a Swansea outfit that sits deep and squeezes space through the middle. 

 

It was another timely reminder of Fabregas’ ability in midfield to utilise his distribution as Chelsea make a final surge for Premier League glory. While the Blues’ nearest rivals for the title - Manchester City - have a game in hand over Conte’s side, with the Manchester Derby postponed as a result of the EFL Cup final, the pressure is on City to make up the ground as Chelsea navigated a potential banana skin with ease. ‘Fabregas is magic’ the Chelsea fans routinely sing and the win over Swansea proved why as the Spanish lynchpin churned out arguably his best performance of the campaign to move the Blues one step closer to their second Premier League title in three years.

 

For more stats on Chelsea 3-1 Swansea, click here to head to WhoScored.com's match centre