In the history of the Premier League, there have been many great goal-scorers, but no one has ever managed to achieve what Cole Palmer did on Saturday afternoon. The 22-year-old Chelsea player, whom Pep Guardiola and Manchester City easily let go in the summer of 2023, has made English football history.Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match. He achieved this feat within just 20 minutes! He found the back of the net against the Seagulls in the 21st, 28th (from a penalty), 31st, and 41st minutes!And he is not even a classic center forward, but rather a winger or attacking midfielder. Before him, not even the Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer, nor Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Mohamed Salah, managed to do this.But even with such a feat, the talented Englishman was not satisfied. The flairfull midfielder admitted he could have scored “five or six” goals in Chelsea’s 4-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Despite his historic performance, Palmer expressed disappointment at missed opportunities.Palmer scores four first-half goals to ground the sturdy Seagulls, Ndidi saves ArsenalThe Mancunian’s impressive feat helped Chelsea overcome an early setback at Stamford Bridge, but Palmer believed he could have further increased his tally.”I should have had five or six,” Palmer told BBC’s Match of the Day reflecting on the match. “When I missed the first chance I was upset but with the way they played and their high line I felt we’d get more chances.You won’t find many better ways to seal a hat-trick than this free-kick from Cole Palmer 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/mrtzL6Yuzd— Premier League (@premierleague) September 28, 2024 Palmer credited manager Enzo Maresca’s game plan for Chelsea’s success.”The manager set us up well. We knew how to exploit them with first-time passes in behind,” he said. “Brighton are a good team, they pass well, and they play a style similar to ours. But three points is what we needed, and that’s what we got.”Brighton had started the match on a positive note, with Georginio Rutter scoring after just seven minutes. Palmer, however, had already seen a goal disallowed by VAR and hit the woodwork before launching a devastating response. Within 12 minutes, he scored a hat-trick, turning the game in Chelsea’s favor. Carlos Baleba later reduced the deficit to 3-2, but Palmer sealed the win with his fourth goal, assisted by Jadon Sancho, who notched his third assist in as many Chelsea appearances.Palmer’s four-goal display continues his remarkable 2024/25 season, building on the momentum from his breakout 2023/24 campaign, where he scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists.Maresca praised Palmer’s performance but echoed the forward’s sentiment that there were more goals to be had.Cole Palmer joins an exclusive list of @ChelseaFC legends 🎩 pic.twitter.com/Uio5EufR5f— Premier League (@premierleague) September 28, 2024 The Chelsea boss, who previously worked with Palmer during his time with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, also praised Palmer’s humility. He made clear his admiration for Palmer as a “human”, and how football “doesn’t change his life”.”I know Cole Palmer from many years ago, I had him at Manchester City in the U23s. The best thing is the way he is as a human is the same way. This doesn’t change his life and that is the best thing for him.”You’d have to be blind if you didn’t see those kind of things with Cole. I said that he scored four but he could have scored more, I say always to be ambitious and hungry to score more.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8370676##With his star on the rise, Palmer continues to cement his place as a key figure in Chelsea’s push for success this season, while his ambition and humility remain key to his growing influence on the pitch.Maresca also reflected on the tactical challenges posed by Brighton but emphasized the importance of learning from tough moments.”I prefer to have more possession”, Maresca said. “Probably we struggled in some moments of the game but I think this kind of game the team needed also to learn. But overall, we managed the game well, and it was a good performance.”Cole Palmer has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other player since the start of last season and now has more goal contributions (43) than PL appearances for Chelsea (39). He is the only player to provide 15+ PL assists in that time, while only… pic.twitter.com/EN2NwEo7ir— Squawka (@Squawka) September 28, 2024
