Cole Palmer grabbed a hattrick last night with two penalties and a late deflected strike.
But his game was about far more than just those efforts.
He was on it all day, as the highlight reel published by Chelsea shows. He played countless line breaking passes and cross field switches, taking advantage of the open game to maximum effect.
His sublime skill on Diogo Dalot will live long in the memory. One way and then the other, he left then Portugal defender flat footed. One could even imagine that being embarrassed like that once played on Dalot’s mind as he clumsily chased down Noni Madueke to give away the equalising penalty.
No matter how cold he was after the two penalties, even Palmer couldn’t resist breaking into a proper yell and celebration after winning the game with the last kick.
You can see it all in the clip embedded here:
Palmer just keeps adding to his highlight reel… 😮💨#CFC | #CheMun pic.twitter.com/BvoqpIuHU8
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 5, 2024
While the highlight reel shows he had some brilliant play, the stats show he still has lots of room for improvement. He completed just 68% of his passes because, for every two of these telling, line-breaking balls he played, he forced another one that lost us possession. Even Frank Leboeuf noticed this. So, cheers to Cole, but let’s not get carried away with the plaudits and lose sight of where he still needs to improve a lot!