Ruben Loftus-Cheek produced an effortless Man of the Match performance as Chelsea rolled BATE Borisov over with ease in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Making just his second start of the season, the 22-year-old midfielder wasted no time impressing himself upon Chelsea’s severely inferior opponents,
Indeed, the first goal came less than two minutes in, with Loftus-Cheek applying a Lampard-esque finish to Davide Zappacosta’s low cross…
A full eight minutes had elapsed when Loftus-Cheek doubled his tally by pipping Olivier Giroud (who scored his last Chelsea goal back in May) to stab home Willian’s corner from close range…
Stamford Bridge were then made to wait until the 54th minute for the man being heralded as “one of their own” fleshed out his hat-trick by guiding a careful, elegant shot in from 20-odd yards out…
BATE weren’t horrific by any means, but were reduced to the role of dazzled spectators for large swathes as Chelsea’s Sarriball, all triangles and delicate interplay, took centre stage.
Alex Hleb played in the middle for the Belorussian side and demonstrated some clever footwork hither and thither, looking a cut above most of his teammates despite being the same age as his manager, 37-year-old Aleksei Baga (whose younger brother Dmitri was playing alongside Hleb in midfield).
The visitors even forced a consolation goal in the 79th minute when Alexei Rios steered in a deep set-piece at the far post…
However, the Blues remained unflustered and subsequently preserved their lead for the final 10 minutes without much hassle.
They remain top of Group L with nine points reaped from three games and a return trip to Borisov next up on the cards.