Cole Palmer shone yet again as he scored four goals in Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge.
The 21-year-old netted a hat-trick in the Blues’ last home game, to drag them to a dramatic victory over Manchester United, and he needed just 29 minutes here to add another match ball to his collection, before adding a fourth from the spot after the break.
It takes Palmer to 20 Premier League goals for the season, alongside Erling Haaland at the top of the Golden Boot standings heading into the final weeks of the campaign.
Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist also got on the scoresheet, as Chelsea now sit just three points off Newcastle in sixth, with a game in hand over the Magpies.
Palmer opened the scoring in sensational fashion, showing brilliant footwork to skip past Jarrad Branthwaite and then play a one-two with Nicolas Jackson, before curling a wonderful finish into the far corner.
His second came five minutes later, heading home after Jackson’s header had been saved, and Palmer made it a perfect hat-trick with less than a third of the match played.
Jordan Pickford played a leading role with an awful error, passing the ball straight to his England team-mate, and Palmer was always likely to take advantage, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper and into the empty net with his weaker foot from 35 yards out.
Jackson made it four before the break, finishing sharply from a Marc Cucurella cross, but the striker’s night is likely to be remember more for the bizarre scenes that followed in the second-half.
With just over an hour played, Palmer and Noni Madueke went down in the box in quick succession, with Madueke swiftly jumping up and grabbing the ball. Jackson arrived on the scene and attempted to snatch the ball off him, with boos ringing out around Stamford Bridge as Conor Gallagher, Chelsea’s captain, then had to snatch the ball away and drag both Madueke and Jackson away from the spot, as they continued to argue with Palmer.
Despite that ridiculous scene, Palmer showed no signs of being too concerned, and he stepped up to send Pickford the wrong way, capping another sparkling performance.
He had been brought off to a huge ovation by the time Gilchrist, off the bench, scored his first goal for the club as the match ticked into stoppage-time, smashing home the rebound after Ben Chilwell’s effort had been kept out.
