Cesc Fabregas has a role at Chelsea: His quality still makes a difference

Cesc Fabregas scored one and set up another in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Swansea. While the midfielder could yet find himself back on the bench at West Ham next time out, it is clear that he still has a role under Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge. Adam Bate looks at why…

Pedro's goal inside the final 20 minutes was the crucial one against Swansea. It came from distance and owed plenty to Lukasz Fabianski's shoddy work in goal. But it was also Premier League assist number 102 for Cesc Fabregas in his 300th appearance in the competition.The pass that did it was not his most spectacular but it did offer a glimpse of why he has delivered so many of them, now second to Ryan Giggs in Premier League history. Pushing the ball between the lines, the midfielder took out two players in progressing the attack.
There had been two such passes to Diego Costa inside the first three minutes. Early in the second half, he put Eden Hazard through on goal. More significantly, he also scored the opener, arriving late into the box for his third of the season. He later hit the crossbar too.

"He took the game by the scruff of the neck and was always bright and busy," said Niall Quinn, covering the game for Sky Sports. "I think he really wanted to take his chance and to play the way he did was the perfect response. I really enjoyed his performance."