Michy Batshuayi hails Cesc Fabregas as ‘Santa on the pitch’ as the Spaniard rips Middlesbrough to shreds and helps fire Chelsea to brink of Premier League title

CESC FABREGAS has been branded the ‘Santa’ of Stamford Bridge by team-mate Michy Batshuayi after his superb performance for Chelsea.

The Blues smashed three past Middlesbrough in a swaggering home victory and are within a win of clinching the Premier League title for a fifth time.

And the Belgian revealed he has a cheeky nickname for his team-mate.

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He said on Twitter: “Bro Cesc is like Santa on a pitch.”

Fabregas set a Premier League record by becoming the first player to make 10 or more assists in SIX seasons.

Surprisingly for players with over 40 Prem assists, Fabregas is sandwiched between David Beckham and Eric Cantona with the most assists per game.

Nemanja Matic also scored two goals in the game, making Fabregas’ contribution and man of the match award even more impressive against now relegated Boro.

However, Fabregas will not have felt in the Christmas spirit when he has an assist taken OFF him after the game – with the news being broken to him by Sky Sports presenter Dave Jones in the Monday Night Football studio.

Fabregas told Sky Sports after the game: “It’s been a different year for me, I’m used to playing week-in-week out in every club I’ve been throughout my career.

“But I feel like I’ve matured a lot, this year it’s not easy what happened to me, many people have told me that I’m not the type of payer for Antonio and that I should leave.

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"But I like challenges, and I haven't played every single game, but in the last 20 games I've played in every single one of them, obviously not all from the start.

"I feel the quality of my minutes on the pitch has been fantastic this season, my contribution is bigger than sometimes than a full season where I've played every single game.

"I've had to have patience and understand that sometimes these things happen and play for the team, play for the club and hopefully we can go into winning another title and play another final, but I'm proud of the team."

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But there was bad news in the end for Fabregas, as he got an assist chalked off for a touch from Fabio, in the build-up to Diego Costa's opening goal.

Jones said on their video interview: "I think one might have been taken off after a touch from Fabio, that's the bad news, in the first goal."

Fabregas replied: "What? That pass was meant for Costa all day long, I'm taking this one."