Ruben Loftus-Cheek hat-trick: Chelsea star reminds Maurizio Sarri of his ability in 3-1 victory over BATE Borisov
Midfielder took just 103 seconds to open the scoring as Blues thumped BATE 3-1 in Europa League tie
RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK was always going to be the story at Stamford Bridge - but it took him just 103 seconds to steal all the headlines.
The Chelsea midfielder has not hidden his disappointment at a lack of game time this season, BATE Borisov marking only his second start of the campaign.
With team-mate Ross Barkley thriving and stealing his spot in the England squad earlier this month it was always going to be a big night for Loftus-Cheek.
He spent little time making his mark against a poor Belarussian side.
It took him eight minutes to score twice - his first goals in Blue in 30 months - and curled in a lovely third just after the break.
But it wasn't only the goals that made him so impressive.
BATE had no answer for 6ft 3in Loftus-Cheek, who was not only able to drive into their defence like a runaway freight train, but also showed balletic feet on the few occassions the men in yellow ever got close.
Maurizio Sarri showed at Napoli, and earlier in this Europa League campaign, that he's not a fan of rotation.
His belief in his starting XI may probably cost him silverware in Italy - his former side famously slowing down late in each of the last couple of seasons to allow Juventus to steal Scudettos.
Loftus-Cheek has been a major victim of that policy so far this season, but the big midfielder did all he could tonight.
He was one of eight changes Sarri made to the team that drew with Manchester United on Saturday and the other seven men brought in couldn't believe how easy they had it.
Both Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen have also talked openly about the possibility of moving on if they don't get game time.
And while they were both on the pitch in body, BATE offered such little threat on the night that the defensive pair didn't need to be on the pitch in mind or spirit.
The pair were very comfortable but it was a valuable 90minutes in case injury hits first-choice duo Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz.
Davide Zappacosta was arguably Chelsea's most dangerous player on the night.
The maurauding right-back set up the first goal with a lovely turn and cut back, while it was his hard running that won the corner leading to the second.
It was in midfield where Chelsea's class shone through.
Alongside Loftus-Cheek, Cesc Fabregas proved once again that he provides every bit of passing that Jorginho does.
The Spaniard controlled the game from start to finish, with BATE inexplicably giving him the freedom to do whatever he wanted.
Fabregas faced no pressure whenever he got on the ball, popping passes all over the park as well as a couple of long-range beauties that nearly set Pedro free.
Mateo Kovacic never needed to get out of second gear, although there was a brief moment of panic when the Croatian stayed down after a knock on the knee.
The game was over almost as soon as it began, with BATE happy to sit deep in their own half even after two and three goals down.
That meant the final bit of excitement of the night was the introduction of Callum Hudson-Odoi - another massively talented Blues teenager that will want to see more first-team action if he's to stay at the club this season.
His first touch showed the crowd what the kid is all about, as he cut inside at pace to ghost past two defenders.
But the night belonged to Loftus-Cheek.
It's now up to Sarri to ensure there are many more nights like this for the midfielder.
