Chelsea’s Cole Palmer scores a record four goals in the first half to rock Brighton | Premier League

Cole Palmer FC might need a break if they can keep this up. These days, it does a disservice to the rest of Enzo Maresca’s squad to say they are a one-man team. But another irresistible performance from the English striker, which made him the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time, made it four wins in a row for Chelsea.

Palmer was the center of attention after his hat-trick in just ten minutes sparked a sensational reaction after Chelsea fell behind to Georginio Rutter’s early opener following a mistake by Robert Sánchez against his former club. The Chelsea goalkeeper will be very relieved that another mistake that allowed Carlos Baleba to score didn’t do more damage, as Palmer secured the points with another brilliant finish before half-time.

But while Fabian Hürzeler was annoyed that his side were not awarded a penalty early in the second half, their insistence on a high defensive line backfired spectacularly as Chelsea enjoyed the afternoon in the sunshine and moved into the top four. Maybe Maresca has found a method in all the madness?

Given recent history, this is a game Brighton fans were clearly looking forward to. The booing of their three former players in Chelsea’s starting lineup began with the first whistle and it wasn’t long before one of them gave them something to cheer about.

Sánchez had made a mistake after a solid start to the season, although it wasn’t entirely his fault after Levi Colwill made a mistake in the seventh minute. The Chelsea goalkeeper was right to sense danger, but was left behind when Rutter headed into the empty net. “There is only one Robert Sánchez,” cheered the away team enthusiastically. Chelsea looked stunned and Sánchez had to be alert when Rutter’s cross was deflected towards goal shortly afterwards.

But after Hürzeler insisted he would not change his risky defensive tactics despite the obvious threat of Chelsea’s pace on the counterattack, they continued to find themselves in terrible danger as Palmer completed his hat-trick in no time. The English striker initially hit the post before a shot was disallowed for offside.

But Brighton didn’t learn their lesson and a poor back pass from Adam Webster – brought in for his first start of the season after Jan Paul van Hecke was ruled out through illness – was used by Nicolas Jackson to set up Palmer.

Jadon Sancho thought he had given Chelsea the lead shortly afterwards, but Noni Madueke was just offside. A desperate challenge from Baleba after Sancho played a brilliant one-two with Palmer allowed him to score his second penalty. His third goal – a superb free-kick into the top corner that sent Bart Verbruggen wide – came after Pervis Estupiñán was lucky not to be sent off for bringing down the marauding Jackson. “You don’t sing anymore,” replied Chelsea’s fans.

But despite their total dominance, Sánchez gave Brighton hope when he inexplicably gifted the ball to Baleba to score, before making a strong save to keep out the Cameroon midfielder’s shot from distance. Luckily for him, Palmer was there to restore the lead as he cut inside from the left wing and beat Verbruggen at the near post. He completed his remarkable feat just months after scoring four goals here against Everton, including a 16-minute hat-trick. Trick.

Apparently none of the coaches had told their players to calm down as the second half got off to a similarly hectic start. Hürzeler jumped after referee Peter Banks rejected Brighton’s requests for a penalty for a foul by Malo Gusto on Kaoru Mitoma. Webster at least partially redeemed himself when he blocked Jackson’s shot off the line after there had been more confusion in Brighton’s defense, but it seemed inevitable that Chelsea would score again when Palmer shot just over the goal from distance before he shot past the goal during another error-free pass.

After that, Webster was finally put out of his misery and the afternoon almost got worse for Brighton, but Marc Cucurella’s volley from a corner was ruled out for offside.