Cole Palmer makes English Premier League history with 12th consecutive penalty
By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — Chelsea star Cole Palmer broke an English Premier League record on Sunday as he scored two penalties in his side’s 4-3 comeback win against Tottenham.
The forward remained ice cold while converting two second-half spot kicks, bringing his tally up to 12 penalties in the league without missing. In doing so, he broke the previous record set by Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, who scored 11 consecutive penalties, per Opta.
Palmer broke the record with an audacious ‘Panenka’ penalty in the 84th minute, chipping his second effort down the middle of the goal – a technique named after Czech football great Antonin Panenka.
“When I put the ball down and stepped back, I knew what I was going to do,” he said after the game. “I thought it was late in the game and it was a bit crazy, so I just went for it.”
Palmer, 22, has become one of the best players in the world since leaving Manchester City to join Chelsea in 2023.
He already has 50 goal involvements (33 goals, 17 assists) in 48 league games for his new club, form which has helped Chelsea rise to second in the table.
The Englishman didn’t drop his level against Tottenham, creating one of his side’s goals in addition to scoring his two penalties.
The match hadn’t started well for Chelsea, though, as host Tottenham capitalized on individual errors to take a 2-0 lead after just 11 minutes.
But Chelsea remained calm and cut the deficit in half after 17 minutes, courtesy of a fine strike by Jadon Sancho.
Palmer then leveled the scores just after the hour-mark, converting a penalty after Yves Bissouma’s lunge brought down Moises Caicedo in the box.
The game then opened up and Chelsea found the go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute through Enzo Fernández’s strike. While the Argentine midfielder provided the finish, the chance was created by Palmer who took on several defenders before the ball broke to Fernández.
Palmer made it 4-2 with his cheeky spot-kick, moments before Son Heung-min scored a consolation goal in the final seconds for Tottenham.
The win now puts Chelsea just four points behind league leader Liverpool, but the London side has played one more match.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has played down the possibility of his side being in this season’s title race, given the team is still in the infancy of its rebuild.
“After the game, my message to the players was to be focused day by day, in the next game, because if you start to think about where we are in three or four games, it’s completely wrong,” he said.
“Enjoy the day off with the family and friends, and when we come back, go again with 100%, train well, get ready for the next game and improve day by day.”
The-CNN-Wire
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