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Chelsea players reach career-best, Premier League milestones in Southampton win

By George Perry

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Diego Costa of Chelsea (19) celebrates as he scores their third goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on April 25, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Diego Costa of Chelsea (19) celebrates as he scores their third goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on April 25, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Several Chelsea players set new career-best marks and climbed the Premier League’s all-time lists in Tuesday’s win over Southampton.

Chelsea defeated Southampton 4-2 on the backs of top performances from their star players. Diego Costa popped his head out of his recent trough to score a brace, while Eden Hazard continued to terrorize opposing defences and goalkeepers.

Costa’s first goal on Tuesday evening was his 50th in the Premier League. The match at Stamford Bridge was his 85th league appearance, making him the fastest Chelsea player to reach 50 goals. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink needed 94 games, and Didier Drogba took 106 games.

Cesc Fabregas floated the pass in to Costa for that goal, giving Fabregas his 102nd assist in the Premier League.  That moved him out of a tie with Frank Lampard into the outright second-place spot in Premier League history for most assists. He remains a distant second behind Ryan Giggs’ 162 helpers. Fabregas told Giggs on Instagram “Ryan, I am coming for you.”

Must Read: Player ratings: Chelsea in control as they defeat Southampton

Diego Costa started his night with an assist on Eden Hazard’s opening goal. That was Hazard’s 15th goal of the season, the most he has had in the Premier League. He had 14 goals in 2013/14 and 2014/15. His career-best single-season goal tally is 20, from his final season at Lille in Ligue 1.

Gary Cahill scored Chelsea’s second goal, nearly taking Diego Costa’s boot to the head in the process. The goal was Cahill’s fifth of the season and the 26th non-penalty kick goal of his career.* The former stat ties his career-best, but the latter places him second behind John Terry (40) on the all-time list among Premier League defenders.

Diego Costa only needs one goal and one assist in Chelsea’s remaining five games to reach more career-best milestones. One more goal would put him at 20, tying his highest tally in a Premier League season. Another assist will tie his 2012/13 season at Atletico Madrid with seven helpers.

Next: Chelsea must repair defence after Southampton follows familiar script to ruin clean sheet

*Not surprisingly, Gary Cahill has zero goals on penalty kicks and likely has attempted just as many.

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