Olivier Giroud became the first Chelsea player to score ten goals in a European season when he netted against Slavia Prague in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
The France international has struggled for minutes in the Blues first team this term, being largely limited to appearances in Europe and the FA Cup.
But he has maximised the opportunities when they have come, and his goal at Stamford Bridge against the Czech side which gave Maurizio Sarri's side a 4-0 aggregate lead made him the first player to hit double figures on the continent in Chelsea blue.
The World Cup-winner joins Lionel Messi as one of only two players to have surpassed the ten-goal mark in Europe this season.
"We started well with good intentions," he said after the game , which Chelsea eventually won 4-3 to progress 5-3 on aggregate.
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"We have been efficient up front and solid at the back but we dropped our intensity after the break. This team never gives up and the last 10 minutes was box to box. It was a good fight and now we are in the semi-finals."
Two goals from Pedro and an own-goal from the Czechs' Simon Deli helped see the Blues into the semi-final and one step closer to creeping into next season's Champions League via the back door. The winners of the Europa League clinch a place in the group stage of Europe's top competition.
Whether or not Giroud will be around to participate should they make it remains to be seen - he has been outspoken this term about his frustration at the lack of opportunities in Sarri's team, and has courted the possibility of a return to France.
Chelsea achieved something no English team has ever managed against Slavia Prague
“When you are a competitor, when you’ve been through difficulties all through your career, you need to keep that frustration inside you and transform it into positive energy on the pitch," he said in a recent interview.
"I’m not happy to play the second role. That’s why I said, next year, I will need to have a more important role to play in the team."
