Cesc Fabregas Hails Teammate Eden Hazard's Ability to Unlock Opposition Defences

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has hailed Eden Hazard as their 'Messi' because of his incredible talent to unlock defences.

The Belgian was the star of the show as Chelsea defeated Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and it was his bit of magic that won the penalty which earned Chelsea a 1-0 lead in the first half.

The former Lille midfielder picked up the ball just inside Arsenal half and ran at the defence, beating two players before Laurent Koscielny brought him down in the box. The Belgian duly converted the spot kick without any trouble from the goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Former Gunners skipper Fabregas, who joined Chelsea earlier in the summer from Barcelona for a reported £27m has been highly impressed by his colleague. And Hazard's impressive performance this season has led the Spaniard to label him the link between the midfield and attack and believes he is the difference maker in the team.

"Hazard has that incredible ability to unsettle the opposition," Fabregas said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"He is the link between midfield and attack for us; he is our Messi because he makes the difference."

The Spanish international midfielder is certain that Chelsea's future is secure as the Blues squad is relatively young following the departures of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole.

"We have a young team but we are very positive about the future," the former Barcelona midfielder added.

Meanwhile, ESPN has christened Hazard as the top penalty taker in Europe after the Belgian midfielder converted his 16th successful penalty against the north London club on Sunday.

The 23-year-old midfielder has a 100% success rate when it comes to penalties, and the stats have been calculated since the beginning of the 2010-11 season.