CALENDAR | RANKING | STATISTICS
Cole Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match. The striker shone in Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The 22-year-old scored four times during a devastating 20-minute spell against the south coast club, as Chelsea recovered from Georginio Rutter’s opener.
Palmer scored in the 21st, 28th, 31st and 41st minutes.
The damage having been done, Chelsea led a much less dramatic second half to sign their fourth victory of the season in the championship.
Palmer previously scored four goals in a single game for Chelsea last season, in a 6-0 win over Everton in April.
He became the fourth player – along with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – to score three hat-tricks in the Premier League for Chelsea.
The game against Brighton was just Palmer’s 39th league appearance for Chelsea, having joined the club from Manchester City in 2023.
Palmer ‘hasn’t changed’ despite his fame
Cole Palmer “scored a lot of goals, made a lot of assists, he’s an excellent player, but he never changed and that’s the most important thing,” said Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
Palmer is now involved in 35 goals in 2024 for Chelsea.
“It’s a good thing that he continues to be hungry, to be ambitious,” congratulated Enzo Maresca, former coach of the under-23s and then assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
“The best thing about him is that the boy he is today was exactly the same three or four years ago,” the Italian technician said in a post-match conference. , appointed Chelsea coach during the off-season.
“The goals, the assists, the title of best player in the Premier League, all of that changes nothing about his personality. He’s a simple guy, a humble guy and that’s, for him, for me, the most important thing,” Maresca explained.
Palmer has become one of the stars of the English championship, the most followed in the world, but this notoriety has not changed his personality, he insisted.
“In football today, young players change very quickly. They score a goal and they think they’re already… Cole has scored a lot of goals, made a lot of assists, he’s an excellent player, but he’s never changed. And that’s the most important thing,” Maresca said.
