Olivier Giroud on Thursday continued his excellent Europa League form with a hat-trick as Chelsea won 5-0 away at against Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine to seal an 8-0 aggregate victory.
It is his second treble in European competition after he scored three times for Arsenal in a Champions League clash with Olympiakos in December 2015.
The Frenchman has only found the net once in 20 Premier League appearances this season, but it has been an altogether different story in Europe.
His hat-trick took him to nine Europa League goals in nine games, making him the top scorer in the competition as Chelsea head into the last eight.
Giroud got his first goal on Thursday night in the early stages at the Kiev Olympic Stadium, firing home from close range after Ruben Loftus-Cheek had flicked on Willian’s corner.
The 32-year-old doubled Chelsea’s advantage – and his own tally – when he finished coolly from Marcos Alonso’s low cross later in the first half, and he completed his hat-trick after the break, heading home another Willian delivery.
Chelsea’s other goalscorers on the night were Alonso and Callum Hodson-Odoi.
With nine goals in the competition, Giroud is one ahead of Red Bull Salzburg’s Munas Dabbur, with Sevilla’s Wissam Ben Yedder and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic in third and fourth respectively.
Chelsea will discover their Europa League quarter-final and potential semi-final opponents on Friday afternoon.
