Alan Shearer last night raved over Cole Palmer after the star made his first appearance against Manchester City since leaving the club.
The youngster started for Chelsea in the pulsating 4-4 draw with City at Stamford Bridge.
It was one of the games of the season so far in the Premier League down in west London. It was always going to be a test for City, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side put up a real fight.
Erling Haaland scored twice for City and Manuel Akanji was also on the scoresheet. Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling and Conor Gallagher all scored for Chelsea.
City thought they were going to edge it when Rodri scored with a late deflected strike. But Ruben Dias brought down Armando Broja for a penalty, which was of course scored by Palmer.
In truth, £75,000-a-week star Palmer deserved a goal yesterday. He was genuinely really impressive in his first game against City. Jamie Carragher branded him ‘brilliant’.
Shearer also heaped praise on him on Match of the Day 2…
Alan Shearer wowed by Cole Palmer in Chelsea 4-4 Manchester City
Chelsea had a few impressive individual performers yesterday. Another City old boy Raheem Sterling was also a real livewire.
But Palmer was the man most people were talking about. Perhaps that would always be the case regardless of how he played, given he just left City.
But he played well, and Shearer raved over the 21-year-old last night. He said on Match of the Day 2: “21-year-old Cole Palmer was absolutely sensational. One of the impressive things about him is he always tries to do that, trying to pass it forward. His first thought is can he do that. Can he get forward, can he run forward.
“It was nothing short of him being magnificent, whenever he had the ball.
“He’s 21 years of age and he’s only been there five minutes. You’re right, he’s a regular now and one of the main players in that team – he looks so confident.”
Palmer shone against City
Fair play to Palmer – yesterday he was absolutely superb against his boyhood club on his first appearance against them since being sold.
Watching him, it did feel at times as though he was trying to send a bit of a message. He was so positive in his play and was very direct.
He was constantly looking to make things happen for Chelsea, and his performance warranted a goal, as frustrating as it was for City to concede to him when they did.
It remains to be seen if City will regret selling Palmer. No one can deny it has been a dream start for him at Stamford Bridge so far.
