Chelsea 6 Everton 0: Cole Palmer runs the show to keep Blues’ European dreams on track in Toffees thumping
MAURICIO POCHETTINO can suddenly see Europe on the horizon and so can Cole Palmer.
Chelsea’s brutal drubbing of hopeless Everton means they are creeping up on the Europa League places in the Premier League.
And for Palmer the chances of him joining England at this summer’s European Championship are growing by the week.
England assistant manager Steve Holland was ringside at Stamford Bridge to see Palmer score three goals in barely 16 minutes.
He won’t need to file a report to head coach Gareth Southgate. It’s a formidable achievement worthy of serious discussion at international level on its own.
But this is the second hat-trick in successive home games for Chelsea’s prize asset and the second home game in a row he has won single-handedly.
Cast your mind back to a jaw-dropping two goal turnaround in just 18 seconds that floored Manchester United here less than two weeks ago.
His first three goals last night were marked by the trademark shiver celebration reflecting his ‘cold’ Palmer nickname. But this boy is red hot.
The fourth goal, a 65th minute penalty was the icing on the cake for him.
But not for Chelsea who managed to take the gloss of this rout.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKER
The embarrassing scenes as Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson openly fought over who should take the spot kick stained what would have been a flawless night and shows there is still much work to be done in the camp building team spirit amongst a bunch of kids.
Chilled out Palmer, the designated and deadly penalty taker at Chelsea stood emotionless, waiting for the petty squabble to finish before taking the ball and duly dispatching it into the back of the net for the ninth time this season.
One of the cheapest and latest signings of last summer’s record-breaking £1 billion spending spree, he now has 11 goals in his last six games.
Next in his sights is old club Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup semi final at Wembley.
How much more will it take for City boss Pep Guardiola to admit his Treble winners dropped a clanger by letting Palmer go for just £40m?
The more nerdy football swots calculated even before this virtuoso performance that Chelsea would have been languishing 16th in the table without Palmer’s 18 point contribution.
And the rest. Without their skinny-rake jewel, there would have been mutiny in Fulham Road a long time ago.
Boss Pochettino even admits Palmer has carried his team through the many bad times in his breakthrough season.
He nutmegs England defenders like he did to Jarrad Branthwaite in the build up to curling home his first goal in the 13th minute.
He pounces like a cat to head home loose balls when England goalkeepers like Jordan Pickford can’t hold a shot.
And he tormented the man who will stand between the sticks for Southgate’s team in Germany by cruelly lobbing him from 35 yards to claim a ‘hokey cokey’ hat trick – putting his left foot in, his right foot in and his head in to score each goal in a different bedazzling manner.
Yet to start an England game, Palmer has two caps as a sub against the might of North Macedonia and Malta before Christmas.
Injury kept him on the bench for the last game of the most recent international break.
If fit and in this sort of form when a draining season draws to a conclusion for Chelsea on May 19 at home to Bournemouth, there seems no way Southgate can leave him out.
And if the squads are increased from 23 to 26 players it might be easier than he thinks. There may be no need for a tough call to get him on the plane.
But despite sweeping abject Everton aside long before half time, experienced Chelsea watchers still could not relax until Jackson made it four by twisting on his heels to lash home from inside the box two minutes before the break.
After flooring Man United, Chelsea crumbled at Sheffield United.
If they fail to beat the curse this week and cannot build on this stupendous result, they will be out of the FA Cup and beng goes the last hope of a trophy this year.
Even so, it is now one defeat in 12 games and while they could not move up a place on the back of this huge win, they have now lost just one game in the last dozen.
They are ninth in the table, three points behind Man United in seventh but with a game in hand. Suddenly Pochettino can look up instead of down.
Everton boss Sean Dyche did not know where to look. Prior to kick off his club appealed against its second points deduction prior.
The first time, back in November. Everton embarked on a run of four wins from five. Don’t hold your breath for history repeating itself this time.