Sometimes it is possible to watch football and know what is going to happen next. That’s Erling Haaland dispatching a one-on-one, or Virgil van Dijk coming out on top in a duel. Other times you watch not knowing, but hoping, the possibilities determined by your imagination. Such moments are less certain, but they are altogether more exciting, and Cole Palmer seems to revel in them.
Moments such as the goal which sealed his hat-trick against Everton on Monday night. Intercepting Jordan Pickford’s clearance, the Chelsea forward could have done a number of things to make the goalkeeper pay, but he chose the most immediate, the most daring, the prettiest even. With Nicolas Jackson looking for a lay-off and yards of space in front of him, Palmer chose instead to hit an instant right-foot wedge shot from 35 yards. At first it seemed to loft too high into the west London night, but then the ball dipped, just in time, ducked under Pickford’s crossbar and set the crowd alight.
