COLE PALMER left hard-to-please Roy Keane purring after a sensational moment during Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Newcastle.
The England playmaker, 22, picked up the ball deep in his own third before using his quick feet to beat a couple of Toon attackers and curling a pinpoint pass up the pitch.
Palmer’s ball curled its way through the Newcastle defence and set Pedro Neto on his way to simply square to Nicolas Jackson and allow the in-form striker to poke the ball home.
The strike put Chelsea 1-0 up as they would go on to maintain their strong start to the season with a 2-1 win over Eddie Howe’s squad.
Stunned fans joked Man of the Match Palmer’s stunning play was “illegal in at least 142 countries”.
And the Three Lions wonderkid even had notoriously-grumpy Manchester United legend Keane gushing.
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Speaking on Sky Sports, Keane said: “I love watching this kid.
“Even his awareness when he receives the ball, he knows exactly what’s happening but then to execute the pass… perfect pass, you just run and he’s going to pick you out.”
Alan Smith, co-commentator for Sky Sports, dubbed it the “pass of the season”.
In the studio, Jamie Carragher went a step further, saying: “This pass over 60 yards, I mean, that’s one of the best passes I’ve seen, never mind this season, but in the Premier League.”
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Palmer’s own boss, Enzo Maresca, later beamed: “It is the reason why people pay.”
The former Manchester City star has already drawn comparisons to Blues icon Gianfranco Zola for his style of play.
And Zola himself was quick to pile praise on Palmer after yet another ludicrous performance.
The Italian legend, 58, said: “The first thing I notice is that when he receives the ball he’s already looking to do what is next,
“That is a quality only a few players have.”
Youngster Palmer admitted he doesn’t know too much about Zola… but knows his class thanks to his love of video games.
On comparisons to the Stamford Bridge idol, Palmer said: “I know he is an icon on FIFA so he must have been good.
“To be honest I didn’t really watch him play. Everyone says he was a great player, so thank you.”
Palmer continued: “I always try to enjoy my football game by game… I try not to put pressure on myself.
“Many people on the outside try to put pressure on me to replicate what I did last season in terms of numbers.
“It is my second season playing football and I am still very, very young.”
And he was optimistic for record-breakingly-youthful Chelsea’s future, as well as his own, as he added: “We just try to play our own game, block the noise out from the outside. We don’t mind proving people wrong.
“We are all young and we have a top coach, but there are improvements still.”
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After the game, giddy fans took to social media to talk up Palmer.
One claimed “he makes football looks so easy”, while another compared his game-changing pass to a “nuclear bomb” the way it scattered the Toon defence.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
