Cole Palmer made Premier League history as the first player to score four first-half goals in Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 22-year-old netted a hat-trick in a 10-minute window as Chelsea came from 1-0 down to go 3-1 up. He then responded to Brighton’s attempted comeback by opening the deficit to two goals with his fourth of the game before half-time.
Brighton punished awful Chelsea mistake
Brighton took a surprise lead at Stamford Bridge in only the 7th minute through Georginio Rutter. Levi Colwill had his clearance charged down and Robert Sanchez came to collect the ball in the air but missed.
Rutter beat him to the punch and headed into an empty net. Colwill raced to get on the goalline but couldn’t stop the effort.
Chelsea found an equaliser less than 15 minutes later through Palmer, but Nicolas Jackson will take the credit for being unselfish and calm while bearing down on goal. Rather than take a one-on-one, Jackson squared it for Palmer to fire past the defender.
Palmer ended the game in the first half
And less than 10 minutes later, Chelsea took the lead. Palmer scored from the spot after Jadon Sancho was brought down in the area. He fired confidently into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.
The 22-year-old completed his hat-trick just minutes after, curling a free-kick into the top corner. Bart Verbruggen had no chance in the Brighton goal as it was too accurate.
As if four goals in just over half an hour wasn’t enough for Chelsea and Brighton, a fifth was scored in the 34th minute. Albion halved the deficit through Carlos Baleba after another Chelsea mistake at the back.
Sanchez played a poor pass out to Moises Caicedo and Baleba intercepted before scoring.
Palmer wasn’t letting Brighton get back into the match, however, and completed his quadruple only minutes before half-time. He made a brilliant run off the last defender and fired an effort into the bottom corner. Sancho played him in, and the pass was perfect so he didn’t need to take a touch.
The two sides traded blows in the second half, but neither team added to the scoreline. It finished 4-2.
