COLE PALMER was proud as punch after receiving his first match ball for his hat-trick against Manchester United – despite it having a cheeky insult written on it.
The England forward bagged two second-half stoppage times goals for Chelsea as they ran out 4-3 winners in a pulsating match at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
Palmer proudly posed for snaps with the match ball – which was signed by several of his team-mates – in the dressing room after the West London thriller.
The ball was covered in congratulatory messages, although someone decided to write an insult on his piece of memorabilia.
Eagle-eyed footie fans noticed one of Palmer’s team-mates had written “s**t player” on the ball and were quick to comment on X.
One said: “Who wrote ‘s**t player’ on Cole Palmer’s match ball?”
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Another said: “Which player wrote ‘s**t player’ on Cole Palmer’s hattrick match ball?”
And another said: “Unknown player wrote ‘s**t player’ on Cole Palmer’s hat-trick match ball?”
One remarked: “Someone just wrote s**t player at Cole palmer hattrick ball.”
Another chimed in: “Who even wrote ‘s**t player’ on Cole Palmer’s ball?”
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Palmer, 21, was left stunned after scoring twice in 80 seconds to complete his hat-trick and the dramatic comeback win.
Man Utd had looked set for their own comeback after overturning a 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 in injury time.
Palmer said: “I don’t know [how Chelsea came back]! We were 2-0 up and then we made silly mistakes.
“When the eight minutes got added on it gave us a lift and I thought let’s go for it.
“It was madness. We need to try to win as many games as possible, but to win like that, there is nothing better.
”We thought when we scored the third goal the fans lifted us and I saw the gaffer say there were two minutes left – and thankfully I scored again.”
When pressed on how it felt to bag his first senior hat-trick, he replied: “Yeah, buzzing, buzzing.”
Victory over United saw Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues move up to tenth in the Premier League table.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
