Gary Neville hit out at Cole Palmer, claiming the Chelsea forward had “lost his head” during his side’s 2-0 loss to Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The 24-year-old’s difficult outing reached a low point in the 80th minute when he was sent off for a reckless challenge on Conor Gallagher. Having already received a yellow card in the 71st minute for barging into Mateus Fernandes—who had handled the ball to halt a Chelsea attack—Palmer received a second booking for studding Gallagher’s ankle just outside the penalty area, resulting in the first red card of his career. Neville, on co-commentary for Sky Sports, thought the reaction was needless. And Chelsea’s appeals came to nothing, referee Chris Kavanagh showed a second yellow.
The match was already slipping away from Chelsea before the dismissal.
Tottenham opened the scoring in the 77th minute through an unfortunate own goal by debutant goalkeeper Mike Penders. Replacing the injured Emiliano Martínez, Penders punched a corner from Fernandes into his own net while under pressure from Jan Paul van Hecke. Mathys Tel later secured the victory for the visitors in the 87th minute, completing a long-distance run from the halfway line with a low finish from 25 yards out. This result marked a rare occasion, as it was only Tottenham’s second league win at Stamford Bridge in 36 years, moving them up to 12th in the standings. Tottenham moved to 12th in the table thanks to back-to-back league wins and claimed only their second league victory at Stamford Bridge in 36 years.
Palmer, who will miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool due to his suspension, struggled to make a decisive impact against Spurs. While he tested goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky in the first half and contributed to several promising sequences, he has failed to score in the Premier League for six consecutive matches. His current form stands in contrast to his earlier output this season, where he netted in league victories over Fulham and Brighton and added two more goals in a September Carabao Cup win against Leeds United. He added two more as a substitute in the 6-3 Carabao Cup win over Leeds United in September.
The current dry spell follows a challenging previous campaign for the Englishman, where he recorded only 10 Premier League goals across 26 appearances. This was a decrease from his 15-goal return the prior season and his impressive debut campaign at the club, during which he tallied 22 goals. As Chelsea navigates this period of instability, the loss to Tottenham—underscored by the disciplinary issues involving Palmer—represents a significant setback for the squad.
