Chelsea's Cole Palmer Makes EPL History by Scoring Four Goals in First Half

Cole Palmer was ruthless against the Brighton defense.
Cole Palmer scored four goals in 20 minutes against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Cole Palmer scored four goals in 20 minutes against Brighton & Hove Albion. / IMAGO/Bradley Collyer

Cole Palmer is putting together a strong case to go back-to-back as the Young Player of the Year after becoming the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League game.

The 22-year-old Chelsea forward already had seven goal contributions in five appearances for the Blues in the Premier League. After Chelsea went 1–0 down to Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge, the ex-Manchester City youth product decided to put the team on his back.

Palmer found his first goal of the day from close range after Nicolas Jackson opted to not shoot and instead lay it off to Palmer for a simple finish.

Chelsea raced down the pitch moments after equalizing with Jadon Sancho driving into the box before he was pulled down by a Chelsea defender. Palmer stepped up and slotted home the penalty attempt from 12-yards out to put the Blues in front

Palmer then doubled Chelsea's advantage to make it a 10-minute hat trick with an impressive free kick. Brighton's Bart Verbruggen could only attempt to keep out the perfectly-placed strike as Palmer was celebrating his third goal of the match with the Chelsea supporters.

Shortly after, however, Brighton pulled one back through Carlos Baleba. Palmer wasn't going to allow the Seagulls to get any closer with a fourth goal scored in 20 minutes to make it 4–2 in favor of Chelsea. Palmer exploited Brighton's high defensive line throughout the first half to give the Blues the best chance of collecting three points.

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Braden Chalker
BRADEN CHALKER

Braden Chalker is a freelance writer for Sports Illustrated Soccer covering Major League Soccer and the U.S. men's national team.