Cole Palmer had a first half for the ages, scoring all four of Chelsea’s goals in a brilliant 45 minutes against Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea needed his terrific day, as goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gifted his old team a pair of goals in a six-goal start to a top-four tangle in London.
[ MORE: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton recap, analysis ]
Palmer bookended a penalty and free kick goal with a pair from the run of play, his four goals coming between the 21st and 41st minutes.
The penalty was won by Jadon Sancho, who assisted Palmer’s fourth goal as well, but the undoubted highlight of the highlights was Palmer’s free kick goal.
The England man punctuated his has hat trick with an arrow of a free kick over the wall that beat a flying Bart Verbruggen to the upper 90.
Watch the non-penalty goals, below:
Cole Palmer free kick goal among record four Premier League first-half goals for Chelsea
Palmer equalizes for Chelsea against Brighton
Cole Palmer slots home the goal after a brilliant pass from Nicolas Jackson to get Chelsea level with Brighton at 1-1.
Palmer's second extends Chelsea's lead v. Brighton
Cole Palmer steps up with a strike to the bottom corner to record his second goal of the match and push Chelsea's lead to 2-1 over Brighton.
Palmer completes 10-minute hat trick v. Brighton
After a blazing start against Brighton, Cole Palmer uses a stunning free-kick to complete a 10-minute hat trick to extend Chelsea's lead to 3-1.
Palmer makes history with fourth v. Brighton
Cole Palmer dashes up the left to rocket his fourth goal and extend Chelsea's lead to 4-2 over Brighton, becoming the first player in PL history to score four goals before half-time in a single match.
