Cesc Fàbregas fastest ever to Premier League benchmark for assists

Cesc Fàbregas played in 4 of Chelsea’s first 6 games of the season (1 start), then didn’t play at all for 7 games (which included an injury as well as a game for the U23s), but has now made 6 straight appearances, including 4 starts. In every single one of those four starts, he’s contributed with either a goal or an assist, grabbing two of the latter in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Stoke City.

The second assist, for Willian’s second goal of the game and what turned out to be the winning goal in the end, was Fàbregas’s 100th in the Premier League (29th for Chelsea, to go with the 71 during his years at Arsenal). In addition to becoming the first non-British player to reach this mark, he’s by far the fastest to it, and that’s despite leaving for three seasons to play in Spain.

Rooney reached this mark just last month and has 101 (and counting). Lampard sits at 103, while Giggs is the runaway all-time leader at 162. Fàbregas could have been within touching distance of that, were it not for the three seasons spent at Barcelona (during which time he picked up 43 league assists). Still, Cesc should be able to climb to second all-time by the time he’s done with the Premier League. He is still just 29 after all and has two more years left on his current Chelsea deal.

Well done, Cesc Fàbregas, the Man with the Magic Hat!