It should come as little shock that Eden Hazard is our Premier League Player of the Week.
The Chelsea winger scored his first league hat-trick in the 3-0 defeat of Newcastle 3-0 that helped send the Blues to the top of the table.
His opener came in the 27th minute when Branislav Ivanovic laid back a pass to the top of the 18 that the on-running Hazard made no mistake of, rifling into the bottom corner.
Seven minutes later and the Belgian was at it again. This time Hazard came in off the dribble from the left side, turning Steven Taylor inside out and finding Samuel Eto’o with a seam ripping pass. The Cameroonian striker slickly back flicked the ball into the on-rushing path of Hazard to comfortably slot home.
In the 63rd minute Hazard was called to the spot and cooly passed the ball to the left of goalkeeper Tim Krul to complete the hat-trick.
An astonishing element encapsulated within each of Hazard’s goals is the comfort in which he finishes. Is there a Premier League player who is cooler in front of goal than the Belgian? Doubtful.
Just last year Hazard squandered more than a few opportunities merely because he lacked poise in front of net. This season, he has mastered the difficult art of relaxing during high tension situations. This skill has transferred into an impressive 12 goals in 25 league matches for Hazard, leading Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to say he’s the best young player in the world.
Hard to disagree there.