Cole Palmer made history as the first player to net four goals in the first half of a Premier League match, propelling Chelsea to a commanding victory over Brighton and elevating them to third place in the standings.
In an exceptionally thrilling match, 22-year-old Palmer also struck the post and had another goal disallowed before the break, as Chelsea’s swift attackers exploited Brighton’s persistent use of a high defensive line.
Albion netted two early goals as fans enjoyed the sunshine at Stamford Bridge, with both goals benefitting from mistakes by Chelsea’s ex-Brighton goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez.
However, following Georginio Rutter’s header putting the visitors in the lead, Palmer firmly took control of the match with an impressive solo performance.
The England player struck the post and scored from an offside position before finally netting a goal from Nicolas Jackson’s pass, all within a rapid succession of 138 seconds.
Palmer then scored his 10th consecutive successful penalty for Chelsea after the impressive Jadon Sancho was brought down, before capping a 10-minute hat-trick with a brilliant 25-yard free kick into the top corner.
A fourth for Palmer, arrowed in from a Sancho pass, came soon after Carlos Baleba had seized on Sanchez’s poor ball out to give Brighton hope.
Chelsea, who put six past Wolves last month, were again superb going forwards but Brighton’s refusal to change their approach after such a flurry of identical chances was bizarre, bordering on naive as young manager Fabian Hurzeler tasted defeat for the first time.
Perhaps predictably the second half was far less incident-packed – although Palmer did waste a great chance for a fifth when he fired wide.
