Cole Palmer became the first player in Premier League history to score four first-half goals in the same game as Chelsea ended Brighton’s unbeaten start to the season with a chaotic 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fell behind after goalkeeper Robert Sanchez failed to win an aerial ball, giving Georgino Rutter his first Brighton goal after seven minutes. Moises Caicedo and Levi Colwill were also to blame for failing to clear in their own penalty area.

Enzo Maresca’s side responded impressively as they ran riot against a Brighton defense missing Joel Veltman and Jan Paul van Hecke. Palmer was set up for his first goal by a pullback from Nicolas Jackson before continuing his perfect penalty tally after a foul on Jadon Sancho.

Palmer completed his hat-trick within 11 minutes, scoring his third goal with an inch-perfect free-kick from 25 yards out to seemingly put Chelsea under control until Sanchez made another mistake and brought Brighton back into the game.

Carlos Baleba pounced on the Chelsea goalkeeper’s weak pass three minutes after Palmer’s third pass, increasing the tension at Stamford Bridge. However, Palmer soon calmed those nerves and made history with his fourth goal after an assist from Sancho.

Palmer’s only regret will be that he didn’t finish the game with more goals, hitting the post when he was about an hour from goal. That would mean he would have equaled the record of a single goal in the Premier League.

Chelsea’s impressive start to the season under Enzo Maresca leaves Chelsea one point behind title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal after six games, while Brighton are in eighth place after their first defeat.

Historian Palmer’s day in pictures

Palmer is furious and misses the chance to score the fifth goal

“He could have had two more,” Maresca said of Palmer after the game.

The 22-year-old had a great chance to equal the Premier League’s goalscoring record in a single game, but when he got close to scoring in the second half he fired wide.

Palmer’s record was announced at half-time, but ultimately narrowly failed. Dimitar Berbatov, Sergio Aguero, Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermaine Defoe remain the only players to have scored five goals in a single Premier League game.

“When I missed the chance in the second half, I was angry,” Palmer said Sky Sports. “I should have scored that, so I was pretty angry.

“I knew the record, someone told me that at halftime. But I didn’t think about it, I just wanted to win.”

Palmer had a slow start to the season by his own high standards last season, scoring twice before this game, but says he is now back to his best after a long summer with England at Euro 2024.

He added: “I haven’t had any pre-season so I took some time in the first few games to get up to speed. But now I’m fully fit and ready.”

Asked about the goals, he added: “The free kick was my favorite. I wasn’t practicing, I was just deciding which direction to go and saw the goalkeeper a little further to the left.”

Hurzeler considers changes after “slight mistakes”

Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler says he will consider changes to his line-up after his side lost to Chelsea due to defensive errors.

“It was one bad incident after another and they had an incredible player,” he said after the game.

“You can’t win if you make these simple mistakes. If necessary, we have to make adjustments.”

Brighton were without Van Hecke and Veltman, which forced them to make adjustments in defense. Centre-back Adam Webster made his first league appearance and Ferdi Kadioglu made his full debut at right-back.

Chelsea easily got past Brighton in the first half, taking advantage of the high line, and Hurzeler added: “You always need a connection on the pitch. We made a lot of changes and there weren’t the connections we needed.”

When asked about Palmer, he replied Sky Sports: “There aren’t many players like him in the Premier League. He’s special.”

“We win together and lose together. We can’t make these simple mistakes if we want to win here. We have to learn from it, including me.”

History of the game in the statistics…

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