Enzo Maresca has said Cole Palmer’s elevation to become one of the Premier League’s biggest stars has not changed him after the 22-year-old played another key role as Chelsea beat Tottenham 4-3 on Sunday.
Chelsea were 2-0 down after 11 minutes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski capitalised on mistakes by Marc Cucurella but mounted a stirring comeback.
Jadon Sancho halved the deficit before Palmer converted the first of two penalties either side of Enzo Fernández’s 73rd-minute volley.
Son Heung-Min scored a consolation for Spurs in the sixth minute of added time but Chelsea closed out a victory which takes them clear of Arsenal in second place, four points behind league leaders Liverpool.
Maresca managed Palmer during their time together working in the under-23s at Manchester City and he praised the England international’s mentality after registering his 50th goal involvement from 48 Premier League games — only Erling Haaland at City (39), Andy Cole for Newcastle (43), and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool (46) have ever reached that total in fewer appearances.
“I know Cole from four or five years ago,” Maresca said. “The best thing from him is that four, five years ago when he was with me he was one way and now after two years, 20-30 goals and everyone considers him one of the [best] he is exactly the same guy.
“Loves football, humble, no strange things. This is the best thing for Cole and for young players because today, young players if they play one game good they think they are [top] and they lose the balance. He is always the same, doesn’t change, and we are very happy with Cole.”
Palmer’s second spot-kick was a “Panenka” and meant he now has the best conversion rate in Premier League history, surpassing Yaya Toure to score all 12 of his penalties to date.
“Probably since we started [working with the team], I didn’t see Cole shooting penalties [in training],” Maresca said.
“Cole belongs to that group that are not normal players. They are top players and they do things that normal players or us, we say ‘how can he do that?’ He scored because he’s top. We can expect this from Cole.”
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