FC Chelsea against Brighton: Cole Palmer scores four times against Hürzeler’s team

The fans of Chelsea FC celebrated Cole Palmer, the scorer of four goals, but also the club’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali. After the league game against Brighton & Hove Albion, a picture of Eghbali’s visit to the stadium circulated on social media in which the American held his finger to his mouth. The gesture looked like a counterattack against critics of his transfer strategy. Since Eghbali took over the club with compatriot Todd Boehly in May 2022, the Londoners have bought an unprecedented 39 players for a total fee of 1.4 billion euros. The signings of the many talents seemed like bets on the future – and Palmer is now actually becoming a jackpot for Chelsea.

Palmer broke a record never before achieved in the Premier League in the 4:2 (4:2) in the chasing duel with Brighton, through which the Blues established themselves in the top group: He scored four goals in the first half. It took him just 20 minutes, including a hat-trick in half that time. 21, 28, 31, 41: Palmer’s goal minutes seemed like the real football numbers on Saturday; and 22 was in a way the additional number, because Palmer only turned that old in May.

Since his move from Manchester City in the summer of 2023 for just under 50 million euros, which now seems inexpensive, the young English international has scored 28 goals and 15 assists in 39 league games for Chelsea. Nobody else in the league, not even Manchester City’s top scorer Erling Haaland, achieved such a result during this time. The Brighton match was “perhaps” the best of his career, Palmer replied, as usual, cautiously when asked about it. He had already scored four goals against Everton FC (6-0) in the previous season. The only other Chelsea professional with two four-packs is Frank Lampard, who watched the game in the stadium from the VIP box.

“We are all human – except the legendary Cole Palmer,” commented Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez

First, a major passing error by the opponent helped Palmer score his first goal, then he converted a penalty taken by Jadon Sancho, put a remarkable free kick into the corner of the goal from 25 meters away – and kept his nerve in a one-on-one against Brighton’s goalkeeper. “We are all human – except the legendary Cole Palmer,” commented Chelsea keeper Robert Sánchez on the performance. Sánchez was responsible for both goals conceded by Georginio Rutter (7th) and Carlos Baleba (34th).

The tabloid Mail felt that despite the hype surrounding Palmer, people still underestimate how special he is. He is elegant and versatile, has a strong left foot – and so the boy from the Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe is the equivalent of a “Swiss army knife,” the paper wrote. Ex-national player Theo Walcott compared him on the BBC with Dennis Bergkamp, ​​who was once equally capable of setting up goals and scoring them himself. Palmer is also a mixture of striker, playmaker and winger.

When scoring goals, the young England international was helped by the daring tactics of Brighton coach Fabian Hürzeler. Despite the speed of Chelsea’s attacking line, Brighton defended far from goal – and were constantly overrun. Palmer usually initiated the attacks himself, repeatedly playing direct passes behind the defense into the path of his teammates. He actually should have scored “five or six goals,” Palmer said angrily afterwards. Hürzeler defended himself and his team by pointing out that Palmer was simply unstoppable and punished every mistake.

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca, who had already trained the player for a season with Manchester City’s juniors, particularly praised his character. Palmer remained a modest boy who successes have not changed: he still behaves the same as he did many years ago, said Maresca. A month and a half ago, Eghbali extended Cole Palmer’s contract at Chelsea by two years – until 2033.