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COLE PALMER pulled out a cracker on Boxing Day, only for Chelsea to suffer a heartbreaking loss to Fulham.It was a sweet sixteenth-minute strike that opened the scoring after he danced through three Fulham defenders before nutmegging Issa Diop and beating Bernd Leno with the finish.Cole Palmer made the difference once againCredit: GettyNicolas Jackson had a difficult day up frontCredit: PAA cagey game followed with Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill all coming close to doubling Chelsea’s lead either side of half-time.But disaster struck with just ten minutes to go as Alex Iwobi shrugged off Pedro Neto as Harry Wilson sneaked in at the back post to head Fulham level. Chelsea’s misery was compounded as they searched for a late winner, only for Robert Sanchez’s long ball to go to Fulham and allow them to rampage forward with Rodrigo Muniz scoring a late winner.Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the players…READ MORE IN FOOTBALLRobert Sanchez – 6Made some sharp stops to deny Calvin Bassey and Raul Jimenez in the first half before making a great save to prevent Antonee Robinson from levelling the score in the second half.His distribution was still shaky, as it was his long ball that led to Fulham bagging the winner.Malo Gusto –  6Most read in FootballDid his job well for large parts of the game, but was caused problems by the dynamic Fulham left side of Robinson and Iwobi in the second half.FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSTosin Adarabioyo – 6Booed throughout the game by the visiting fans of his former club, but put in a great first-half performance.He had it all for the most part before being let down by Wilson stealing behind him to get Fulham level.Was nowhere to be seen for Fulham’s winner.’I’m getting emotional’ – England manager Thomas Tuchel’s comments on Cole Palmer leave Chelsea fans close to tearsLevi Colwill – 7Claimed what we like to call a ‘Busquets to Messi’ assist for Palmer’s opener as he showcased his impressive passing range again today. Excellent link-up with Jadon Sancho on the left and was close to a perfect ten but the offside flag denied him a goal before conceding twice late on.Marc Cucurella – 7Gives Chelsea an added threat when he bursts down the left and makes the underlapping run past Sancho, also dealing with the physical presence of Adama Traore brilliantly.Was inches away from doubling Chelsea’s lead before half-time with a diving header well saved by Leno.Moises Caicedo – 6Worked extremely hard as usual in the middle of the park to break up play and distribute to the players ahead of him, but it was a quiet game by his excellent standards.Enzo Fernandez – 7Energetic in the middle of the park and he added a level of composure to the Blues midfield when he got his foot on the ball. Was denied a screamer of a goal by a great Leno save early in the second half.Pedro Neto – 6Troubled the Fulham defence with his direct running at times in the first half, and worked tirelessly defensively throughout. His final ball was a little disappointing, and he was shrugged off by Iwobi allowing Fulham to equalise.Cole Palmer  – 8Quickly running out of superlatives to describe Palmer, perhaps the greatest compliment to him is that real shades of Eden Hazard are evident in his play.Looked dangerous from the start, and it took him just 16 minutes to capitalise on that threat with a delightful goal into the bottom left corner.Did quieten down in the second half, however, and couldn’t create much.Jadon Sancho – 6Caused a fair few problems for Timothy Castagne on the left-hand side with his dazzling feet and direct running, as well as doing his defensive duties well. A bit more composed and creative than Neto on the other flank, but had a quiet second half.Nicolas Jackson – 4His touch escaped him at times in the first half and his decision-making has been better for large parts of the season so far. Seemed to struggle with the physicality of Fulham’s centre-halves. SUBS:READ MORE SUN STORIESChristopher Nkunku (Jackson, 72) – 4Wasn’t the attacking impetus his team needed when he came off the bench, failed to really add anything to the game.  More

NEWCASTLE UNITED’S fantastic festive form continued as Jhon Duran made Unai Emery’s naughty list.The Aston Villa striker was looking to score for the fifth straight game but instead his afternoon lasted just over half an hour before he blew his team’s chances of victory.Anthony Gordon put Newcastle in front after barely 80 secondsCredit: RexThe Toon winger curled expertly into the top cornerCredit: GettyAlexander Isak could not miss as he doubled the hosts’ advantageCredit: PAJhon Duran was sent off for Aston VillaCredit: ReutersThe Colombian maverick was sent off for violent conduct following a naughty stamp on Fabian Schar to leave Villa without a win at St James’ Park since 2005.However, fellow top-four rivals the Magpies are absolutely flying after a fourth-consecutive victory, in particular their Swedish striker Alexander Isak.He scored again to make it 11 in 12 for him after Anthony Gordon gave them a dream start, and Joelinton put the cherry on the cake at the death.The omens of Emery’s team ending 19 years of hurt on Tyneside quickly evaporated.Just 80 seconds were on the clock before Gordon almost caused the roof to come off the Gallowgate after Toon’s midfield three all combined well.Sandro Tonali won back possession deep in his half and played it short to Bruno Guimaraes, who in turn passed it on to Joelinton.His fellow Brazilian charged forwards as the Villa defence continued to back off him, allowing him to slip in left to Gordon, who cut inside Matty Cash and curled it straight across Emiliano Martinez and into the top corner. Jacob Murphy dragged one wide while Gordon failed to connect properly with another effort as Newcastle looked to blow the visitors out of the water.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSHowever, Villa under Emery are made of stern stuff these days, and it was their midfield that soon began to take charge after seeing out the early storm.Lucas Digne’s free-kick forced Martin Drubravka into a flying stop but the Magpies retaliated with Kieran Trippier, enjoying a rare start in place of the ill Tino Livramento, making Martinez work from his own set-piece strike.I’m a former Newcastle striker who filled ex-England star’s car with rotten fish as revenge for him cutting up my clothes It was turning into a brilliant contest – until Duran’s moment of madness left Villa right up against it.He had been niggling with Fabian Schar throughout the opening half hour when he tried to snidely stamp on him.The Newcastle defender was shepherding the ball away from danger under pressure from the South American forward when it exploded.But as Schar went to ground on his front, Duran looked to hurdle him but in a strange, late motion, his left foot caught the defender’s hamstring while his right stamped straight along his rival’s lower back and side.Toon players raced over as their team-mate writhed in pain and ref Anthony Taylor issuing him a red card, with Duran volleying a water bottle for good measure as he eventually left the pitch.Tensions were rising on and off the pitch as Emery and his staff became more and more irritated by Eddie Howe’s notorious No2 Jason Tindall, including him “shushing” them.And that boiled over at the half-time break when Tindall was forced to start the second period sat in the press box in the Milburn Stand before scurrying elsewhere after he and a Villa analyst were sent off for a confrontation in the tunnel.That could’ve started when Joelinton’s flying arm sent Morgan Rogers crashing to the ground, a challenge that earned one of three yellow cards in the opening 45, but the visitors obviously had wanted more.Away from all of the brewing trouble, Martinez also made an incredible one-handed save to keep his team in it when pushing away Tonali’s shot from eight yards.That left it still all to play for after the break as Emery went for it, replacing Youri Tielemans with Ollie Watkins, but their hopes did not last long.Isak, who had just headed into the side-netting, continued his purple patch.The lovely move started with Bruno beautifully slipping in Murphy down the right, and he squared it for the Swede to simply tap in.The hotshot was denied a brace moments later after just straying offside as Newcastle continued to swarm forward and turn the screw.Murphy should have made it three but instead went for power instead of precision and whacked a strike off the bar.READ MORE SUN STORIESAnd Villa were spared even further embarrassment late on when Ezri Konsa’s clearance went into Bruno’s behind and deflected in from two yards out – but VAR spotted it came off the Toon skipper’s arm.But the third did come in the final seconds as Joelinton collected the ball, drove forward before slamming home from just outside the box.It was the second flick of the boot on Fabian Schar’s back that prompted the red cardCredit: GettyDuran booted a water bottle in anger as he trudged offCredit: GettyTempers boiled over on the touchlineCredit: Reuters More

BOURNEMOUTH’S late flourish failed to land the victory needed for a top-five spot as Crystal Palace deservedly earned a point.Ismaila Sarr had a goal ruled out for the lowly Eagles, while key man Eberechi Eze had a long-ranger spectacularly tipped over by Cherries keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr slots home but saw his effort ruled outCredit: ReutersSarr was frustrated but Palace would surely have taken a point beforehandCredit: RexPalace stopper Dean Henderson sees Dango Ouattara go close for BournemouthCredit: RexAntoine Semenyo did go close to a late winner for Andoni Iraola’s men.But overall Palace halted the Bournemouth express and were full value for a point.The Cherries, now unbeaten in six games, were not on their shooting game having 18 shots with only four on target.Brazilian Evanilson came on as a livelier replacement for Enes Unal to help Bournemouth improve in the closing stages.READ MORE TOP FOOTBALLBut Palace remained robust in defence as they lifted themselves four points clear of the drop zone.Eagles chief Oliver Glasner was certainly delighted.He said: “It’s a good point here at Bournemouth. They are really in very good shape.“We expected the game to be how it was. Very intense, many duels. They were playing very straight in behind, having a lot of pace and sometimes it’s not so easy to defend.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS“On the other side, when you have the ball, they always make pressure, you never have time, and in some situations we did really well, when we moved the ball quickly and created our moments, so this is a good point.”Glasner added: “I think we defended really well. We were very focused and concentrated, especially on the long balls in behind.Son Heung-min tells Tottenham flops to applaud fans after defeat at Bournemouth”Overall, we can still improve of course.”But today it was important to get at least a point, and this is what we did.”Bournemouth chief Andoni Iraola shows his frustrationCredit: GettySon Heung-min tells Tottenham flops to applaud fans after defeat at Bournemouth More

COLE PALMER broke an incredible 23-year Chelsea goal record after his stunner against Fulham. The England international opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge in the West London derby. Cole Palmer celebrates his opening goal against FulhamCredit: GettyHe effortlessly drifted past a sea of Fulham shirts before placing a left-footed curler past Bernd Leno. It was 12th goal of the season and remarkably his 26th of 2024. That saw Palmer break Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s record of most Premier League Chelsea goals in a calendar year – scoring 25 in 2001.Others in the top five were Didier Drogba with 22 in 2010, Diego Costa scoring 21 in 2016 and Frank Lampard with 20 in 2005. READ MORE IN FOOTBALLPalmer also made it 51 goals and assists in as many games since signing for Chelsea in the summer of 2023. The playmaker joined from Manchester City in a deal worth £42.5 million and has quickly become one of the most in-form players in the world. His solo stunner left former City defender and Amazon Prime pundit Nedum Onuoha in awe. Onuoha said: “My goodness. Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS”Cole Palmer, he’s so so good at finding the ball in the spaces between the midfield and the defence but look at the way he takes this on the back foot and immediately wants to try and affect the game.”Takes it to the side, shuffles and it’s the easiest goal in the world for him.”Oh my goodness, there’s a megs [nutmeg] in there as well. When players can make it look that simple, you know they’re on a different level.”Despite Palmer’s stunner, Fulham fought back to steal a famous 2-1 thanks to goals from Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz. Rodrigo Muniz scored a late winner for FulhamCredit: Getty More