Chelsea’s Cole Palmer makes Premier League history with four first-half goals
By George Ramsay, CNN
(CNN) — Cole Palmer produced an incredible solo performance during Chelsea’s 4-2 victory against Brighton on Saturday, becoming the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match.
After equalizing for Chelsea in the 21st minute, Palmer converted a penalty and a superb free-kick inside the next 10 minutes to complete his hat-trick. He then added his fourth shortly before halftime with a first-time finish from Jadon Sancho’s pass.
Four other players have scored four goals in the same half of a Premier League match, but the 22-year-old Palmer is the first to achieve the feat in the opening 45 minutes.
He even had further chances go awry in that time, too, hitting the post with one attempt and finding the net from an offside position with another. Later in the second half, Palmer almost got a fifth when he was one-on-one with Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, though he put his shot wide.
“I didn’t know about (the record), the lads just told me then,” Palmer said in an interview with Sky Sports after the match. “I’m really happy about it. When I missed the chance in the second half, I was fuming because it was early in the second half, I think it was the 55th, 56th minute, so I should have scored that.”
Georginio Rutter gave Brighton an early lead at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea failed to clear the ball from the area, allowing the Frenchman to head into the net despite pressure from goalkeeper Robert Sánchez and defender Marc Cucurella.
But any likelihood of the visiting side, unbeaten in the Premier League prior to the game, building on the early lead were quickly shut out by Palmer’s brilliance.
The England international got off the mark having linked up with Nicolas Jackson, before adding a second from the penalty spot after a foul on Sancho. With that, Palmer edged closer to another record for the most penalties scored in the Premier League without missing. He currently has 10, one short of Yaya Touré’s mark.
A sublime, 25-yard free-kick into the top-right corner completed Palmer’s hat-trick, before another defensive error from Chelsea saw Brighton make it 3-2 – Carlos Barlebo pouncing on a loose pass from Sánchez and firing into the net.
The frantic first-half scoring wasn’t done yet, as Palmer latched onto Sancho’s pass and scored his fourth goal with a first-time finish.
Chelsea could have extended its lead in the second half. Jackson had a shot cleared off the line by Adam Webster, while Palmer missed out on equaling the record for the most goals in a Premier League game when he fired wide soon after.
The Blues have now won their past four games in all competitions and move up to fourth in the league table, one point behind Manchester City and Arsenal and two behind Liverpool.
Speaking about Palmer’s performance after the match, manager Enzo Maresca said: “He’s a special player, a simple guy, a humble guy.
“He doesn’t need to tell people how good he is because you can see it clearly. For sure when you score four goals it is a great performance. But I said to Cole, he scored four, he could have scored two or three more, so it’s good that he continues to be hungry, ambitious.”
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