Manchester United legend Gary Neville waxed lyrical about Cole Palmer’s role in Chelsea’s opener against Liverpool – before Sky Sports colleague Roy Keane argued that Liverpool had gifted the Blues the goal.
The Blues attacker had experienced a drop-off in form coming into the clash with the Reds, having gone 16 games without a goal. Despite this barren spell, the former Manchester City trainee showed no signs of a lack of confidence during the first half at Stamford Bridge.
After a slip from Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, Palmer embarked on a lung-busting run from the half-way line with the ball at his feet, before supplying an eye-catching pass in the build-up for Pedro Neto. From there, the Portuguese winger produced a defense-splitting pass from the right channel – finding Enzo Fernandez inside the box.
The Argentine midfielder demonstrated his class as he then finished off the move with a composed finish, grabbing his ninth league strike of the campaign. Speaking during Sky Sports’ coverage of the clash, ex-Old Trafford defender Neville highlighted Palmer’s importance to the goal as he anticipated the mistake from Jones.
He explained: “That little bit of play, that movement, is wonderful. Fair play to Enzo for the composure but Cole Palmer is so important to this goal.
“I can’t tell you how good in words how good that was. Curtis Jones slips and you think it is unlucky but that is what happens when you get done by an excellent piece of skill.
(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
However, Neville’s former Red Devils teammate Keane was more concerned with the defending from Liverpool in the build up to Enzo’s opener. Singling out Harvey Elliott for his lack of pressing, the Irishman contended: “Elliott doesn’t need to go pressing and once that pass is played, there are three Liverpool players out of the game.
“It all starts from Elliott going forward. I am being extra critical but you have to be if he wants to get a place in the team. One 10-yard pass shouldn’t take the entire midfield out of a game. It is far too easy.”
(Image: (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images))
Prior to the clash at Stamford Bridge, Palmer’s boss Enzo Maresca was eager to praise the player for his contributions on the field – in spite of his long-standing goal drought.
The Italian said: “For sure it’s a mental thing, it’s not tactical or technical. Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games. The style is the same, the manager is the same, the club is the same.
He added: “Nothing has changed around Cole. It’s just mentally in this moment.
You can see he’s a little bit worried because he wants to help the team. You can see he’s struggling a bit on that. But he showed how happy he was after Fulham. It’s just a matter (of whether) we can win games.
“For sure he’s going to score goals. If you go back game by game, he had at least every game one or two chances, so it’s not about how the team is playing.”
