21-year-old Cole Palmer secured his first senior hat-trick against Manchester United and gave Chelsea an emphatic win at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening.
Manchester United seemed to clinch a significant victory with Alejandro Garnacho’s brace and Bruno Fernandes’ header, seemingly nullifying Palmer’s first half penalty and Conor Gallagher’s fourth minute goal. However, a second Cole Palmer penalty in the 100th minute and a 101st-minute winner, with just 82 seconds separating the goals, sealed a dramatic win for Chelsea.
After scoring his hat-trick against the Red Devils, Palmer admitted on TNT Sports: “When I was growing up, I was a Manchester United fan.”
Thanks to the 21-year-old, Chelsea secured their first Premier League victory over Man United since 2017, under the management of Antonio Conte, with Alvaro Morata netting the decisive goal.
Palmer has emerged as a standout signing of the season, netting his 19th goal of the campaign since his £42.5 million transfer from Manchester City last summer. Additionally, he boasts eight assists, surpassing all his teammates in this regard.
Cole Palmer has to be called up to England in the summer
This epic form should earn the mercurial talent an international call-up for England for the European Championship in Germany this summer.
The Three Lions are blessed in attacking midfield and wide options with the likes of Jude Bellingham, James Maddison, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden, Palmer himself and Anthony Gordon.
What is crazy is two Englishmen scored a hattrick in midweek: Phil Foden for Manchester City against Aston Villa, and Palmer for the Blues. This is also testament to the City academy with both stars graduating up from the academy since an early age.
Interestingly, Palmer has been able to achieve a hat-trick in just 44 appearances, while fellow Mancunian Marcus Rashford has failed to copy this feat in 268 appearances.