Cole Palmer's sensational four-goal display for Chelsea against Brighton & Hove Albion has been voted by fans as the BEST individual performance of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Palmer became the first player in history to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match, as he helped Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in September 2024.
His performance has topped a shortlist of 10 outstanding individual displays, gaining 42 per cent of the fan vote and winning by a landslide ahead of Mohamed Salah's display for Liverpool against Newcastle United, which was picked by 19 per cent of supporters.
How the fans voted
1: Cole Palmer (Chelsea 4-2 Brighton) 42%
2: Mohamed Salah (Newcastle 3-3 Liverpool) 19%
3: Amad (Man Utd 3-1 Southampton) 12%
4: Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal 5-1 Man City) 10%
5: Omar Marmoush (Man City 4-0 Newcastle) 9%
6: Justin Kluivert (Newcastle 1-4 Bournemouth) 2%
7: Alexander Isak (Ipswich 0-4 Newcastle) 2%
8: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton) 2%
9: Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford 4-2 Brighton) 1%
10: Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth 5-0 Forest) 1%
Palmer's masterclass in numbers
Palmer's four goals came in the 21st, 28th, 31st and 41st minutes in a sensational first half against Brighton at Stamford Bridge, spanning 19 minutes and 57 seconds.
Since records began in 2006/07, only Tottenham Hotspur's Jermain Defoe has netted four times in a match over a shorter period of time, timed at 17 minutes and 56 seconds in a 9-1 win over Wigan Athletic in November 2009.
Palmer's first goal in the 4-2 win over Brighton, a simple finish past the advancing Bart Verbruggen after Nicolas Jackson squared the ball, was an equaliser following Georginio Rutter's early opener. Palmer's second strike of the afternoon, from the penalty spot, put Chelsea ahead in the match for the first time.
He completed his hat-trick with a brilliant 25-yard free-kick straight into the top corner before then collecting a through-ball from Jadon Sancho to fire in a low shot at the near post.
As well as scoring four goals, Palmer also hit a post, coming within inches of becoming only the sixth player in Premier League history to score as many as five goals in a match, after Andrew Cole (for Man Utd v Ipswich, 1995), Alan Shearer (Newcastle v Sheffield Wednesday, 1999), Jermain Defoe (Spurs v Wigan, 2009), Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd v Blackburn Rovers) and Sergio Aguero (Man City v Newcastle, 2015).
Speaking about the moment when he hit the woodwork, Palmer said: "I was fuming. It was early in the second half, the 55th or 56th minute. I should have scored that. I was pretty angry."
Palmer had seven shots in total, and created four chances for his Chelsea team-mates.
"It was up there, maybe," said Palmer, when asked after the match if he rated his display as the best in his career.
"I'd not had a pre-season so in the first games coming back, I was just taking a bit of time to get up to speed.
"The free-kick was probably my favourite [of the four goals]. I was just deciding to go left or right, and then I saw that the 'keeper was a bit more to the left, so I thought I'd go over the wall, and it went in the top corner!"
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca paid tribute to Palmer's brilliance but also thought the midfielder could have done more!
"For sure, when you score four goals, it is a great performance," said Maresca. "But I said to Cole he could have scored two or three more, so it’s good that he continues to be hungry, ambitious."
