Cole Palmer for Chelsea (X)
Palmer scored potentially the goal of the season with an out-of-this-world free-kick to complete his stellar hattrick, before adding a fourth before the halftime break.
It is an absolute firecracker of a day for Chelsea, and it has been none other than Cole Palmer who has shone the brightest, netting four goals of his own in the first half against Brighton on Saturday.
In what could only be described as an absolute goalfest of a match, Brighton started off well, capitalising on Chelsea’s lack of concentration on the defensive end, to net in the first goal of the match.
But, Brighton’s spark would fizzle out soon, as Chelsea star Cole Palmer would go on a rampage of his own, scoring a stunning hattrick in about 10 minutes, and a fourth goal before halftime.
With his tremendous goalscoring rout today, Palmer became the first player in the history of the Premier League to score four goals in the first half of a match.
Palmer levelled the game after 21 minutes before edging his side ahead from the penalty spot moments after.
But the English forward was not finished there as he then scored potentially the goal of the season with an out-of-this-world free-kick to complete his stellar hattrick.
The former Man City graduate would not be done though, as after Brighton tried to pull closer with a hard-fought goal from Baleba, Palmer would silence the Brighton away fans minutes before half time, netting in another easy goal to make it four.
Palmer has succeeded to adapt his new role as a central midfielder for the Blues as he has created the most opportunities from the midfield in the Premier League so far. His partnership with striker Nicolas Jackson has built up very well, as through their link-up play the Blues have scored the most goals so far.
Unbeaten since a predictable opening-day defeat to champions Manchester City, the Blues are just two points off second place with five games played, and the nature of the 3-0 dismantling of West Ham last time out suggests Maresca might just be cooking up something special at Stamford Bridge.