London is not short on entertainment options. There is a West End full of show-stopping theatre productions and Swedish holograms singing pop hits on demand in the east.
There are royal companies performing ballet, opera and other art forms beyond the comprehension of this writer, not to mention a glutton of “immersive experiences” transporting audiences to just about any time and any place, from New York speakeasies in the Roaring Twenties, to Birmingham boozers in the midst of gang wars.
But increasingly, when Cole Palmer plays, Stamford Bridge is the place to be, the capital’s must-see ticket which admits one for a 90-minute exhibition of footballing genius at work.
Here, as so often, Palmer was Chelsea’s match-winner, creating one goal with the pass of the season and scoring the other as Enzo Maresca’s side beat Newcastle 2-1 to reconfirm their status as serious contenders for the top four. And let’s just get straight to it: the pass.
Palmer was only 10 yards outside his own penalty area when he conceived it and half that when, having drifted homeward, he swivelled and hit the thing. Pedro Neto pointed in behind to where he wanted the ball, but really it was heading there anyway. This was, in a flipping of convention, a pass that instructed the run, demanded to be met.
It teased, too, just close enough to Tino Livramento to convince the Cobham academy graduate that he might be able to cut it out. He tried, failed, and in the process lost any chance of keeping up with Neto, even with a head start. Fabian Schar tried to cover but Neto was too quick and, having been preferred to Jadon Sancho from the start, took his chance by laying on a simple one for Nicolas Jackson.
It speaks to Jackson’s growth that the finish did not feel in doubt, the forward steering home first time for a sixth Premier League goal in nine games this season. That compares favourably to just about all the division’s leading men, save, inevitably, Erling Haaland and, weirdly, Chris Wood.
Certainly, the 23-year-old has made a stronger start to the season than Alexander Isak, mooted, if only briefly, as a possible upgrade this summer. The Swede had scored just once in the league before this afternoon, but levelled before half-time as Chelsea once again failed to establish control of a game in which they had been the better team.
It is six games now without a clean sheet across all competitions and had Isak not dallied when rounding Sanchez late on, Newcastle would surely have left with a point.
Not for the first time, though, Palmer ensured the Blues’ defensive vulnerability will be a topic for Monday’s training ground debrief, rather than this game’s key takeaway.
The Englishman had, for once, been shackled by Liverpool and Curtis Jones in defeat at Anfield seven days ago but there was little evidence here that Eddie Howe or Bruno Guimaraes had taken note. Or perhaps, to be more generous, Palmer was simply too good.
One of the bizarre things about covering brilliance on this level is that it is almost a relief when the level slips and the superlatives can be parked. Doing justice to *that* pass, well, that’s a challenge. But Palmer’s strike for the winner was not actually particularly special.
He had plenty of time and space after Romeo Lavia had done well to win the ball and Schar refused to engage. His shot, given the angles closed by static defenders, was about all that was on, but should really have been saved.
Except Nick Pope, like the rest of us, knows what Palmer is capable of and so did not feel comfortable simply covering his near-post and playing the odds, which said the advancing forward surely could not shoot anywhere else.
The ‘keeper’s positioning was off, his attempt at a save weak, Chelsea decisively ahead and Palmer the star turn once again.
