Cole Palmer on record-breaking four-goal feat for Chelsea against Brighton - 'I should have had five or six'

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Cole Palmer claimed he should have scored "five or six", ruing missed chances despite netting four goals in Chelsea's 4-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. According to Opta, no Premier League player had scored four first-half goals before Palmer's feat at Stamford Bridge, and the England international was disappointed that he was unable to further his tally.

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Cole Palmer notched a Premier League record of four first-half goals as Chelsea rallied to a 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, but the England forward felt he could have "had five or six".

According to Opta, Palmer became the first player to score four times in the first half of an English top-flight match as he found joy against The Seagulls at Stamford Bridge.

But the 22-year-old still found room to rue missed chances in a dominant performance from Enzo Maresca's side.

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"I should have had five or six," Palmer told BBC's Match of the Day. "When I missed the first chance I was upset but with the way they played and their high line I felt we'd get more chances.

"The manager set up a good game plan, we knew how to attack them with first-time passes in behind.

"Brighton are a good team, pass the ball well. They play similar to us. Three points is what we needed and that is what we got.

"I try and play every game the best I can."

Brighton's afternoon in west London began in cheery fashion as Georginio Rutter put the visitors ahead on seven minutes.

And before working himself onto the scoresheet, Palmer had already been denied an opener by a VAR intervention, while he also hit the woodwork with another chance.

But the in-form forward bit back in stunning fashion, netting a hat-trick within 12 first-half minutes before Carlos Baleba decreased the deficit to 3-2.

Palmer worked another goal, with Jadon Sancho providing his third assist in as many Chelsea appearances.

The former Manchester City youngster's four-goal haul continues an impressive 2024/25 campaign, after a spectacular break-out 2023/24 season in which he scored 27 goals, alongside 15 assists.

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MARESCA HAILS 'HUNGRY' PALMER'S 'HUMAN' SIDE

Maresca agreed with Palmer's assessment that he could have scored more than four goals against Brighton, and stacked praise on the forward's approach to his glittering, emerging career in football.

The Chelsea boss worked with Palmer in his previous role in Pep Guardiola's backroom team and as Under-23s manager.

And he made clear his admiration for Palmer as a "human", and how football "doesn't change his life".

"It was a good game," Maresca said. "Probably we struggled in some moments of the game but I think this kind of game the team needed also to learn.

"I prefer to have more possession. But we struggled a little bit at the beginning of the game, we conceded possession because they surprised us a bit tactically, but overall we were quite good.

"I know Cole Palmer from many years ago, I had him at Manchester City in the U23s. The best thing is the way he is as a human is the same way. This doesn't change his life and that is the best thing for him.

"You'd have to be blind if you didn't see those kind of things with Cole. I said that he scored four but he could have scored more, I say always to be ambitious and hungry to score more."

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