There were emotional scenes last night at Stamford Bridge and not just because an Álvaro Morata brace ended a near four-hour goal drought for the Blues at home. Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup looks to have been the final Chelsea appearance for veteran midfield Cesc Fàbregas. The man with the Magic Hat was substituted off with just a few minutes to go and is now reportedly off to Monaco.
After the final whistle, he came back out for one final, emotional farewell as the stadium sung his song and he wiped tears from his eye.
An emotional farewell for Cesc Fabregas pic.twitter.com/zR0cRNaywy
— Goal (@goal) January 5, 2019
After the match, Eden Hazard paid tribute (with a bit of classic Eden dad-humor) to his teammate of the past 4.5 years, who had been instrumental in Chelsea winning two league titles and two domestic cups during that time.
“In five years I can say that I was lucky to play with him. Since the beginning when he came, we saw it the first year, we won the double together. Top guy on the pitch, off the pitch, a great friend of mine and [for whom I have] just admiration.
“I hope he will have a good future. He’s a bit old now! But he’s still very good and he will enjoy.”
-Eden Hazard; source: Hayters
Others paid tribute on social media, including Morata and David Luiz