Old foes Chelsea and Manchester United renewed hostilities on Thursday (April 4) at Stamford Bridge in Gameweek 30 of the 2023-24 Premier League season. Desperate to get maximum points under their belt, both sides pushed hard from the first minute to the last, but thanks to the brilliant Cole Palmer, Mauricio Pochettino had the last laugh, as his side secured a mega 4-3 win over Erik ten Hag‘s outfit.
Manchester United Briefly Enjoy Brilliant Turnaround At Stamford Bridge
Buoyed by fans at a packed Stamford Bridge, Chelsea attacked Manchester United right out of the gate, getting their noses in front only four minutes in. Malo Gusto’s deflected cross fell kindly to captain Conor Gallagher inside the area. The midfielder unhesitantly applied a side-footed finish to send it beyond Andre Onana and into the back of the United net.
Things went from bad to worse for Manchester United in the 18th minute, as Antony fouled Marc Cucurella inside the penalty area. The referee, who was in the vicinity when the Brazilian clipped the Spaniard, pointed to the spot straight away and soon received confirmation from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Palmer, who is enjoying a blistering debut season for the Pensioners, stepped up to take the spot-kick and coolly slotted it into the bottom-right corner. In the 25th minute, Axel Disasi had a great opportunity to put Chelsea 3-0 up, but he failed to keep his header on target.
After being under pressure for the first half an hour, Manchester United pulled one back through Alejandro Garnacho in the 34th minute. Moises Caicedo made an uncharacteristic error to gift the ball to the Argentine, who made inroads into the area and beat Djordje Petrovic from 10 yards out. Five minutes later, Bruno Fernandes pierced through the midfield to break into the box and head in Diogo Dalot’s delectable cross from the left, making it 2-2 at Stamford Bridge.
The Red Devils completed the comeback in the 67th minute, primarily thanks to a moment of brilliance from Antony. The Brazilian winger superbly found Garnacho with an outside-the-boot delivery, allowing the Argentine to tap it home from close range.
Cole Palmer Sends Chelsea Fans Into Pandemonium In Injury Time
Manchester United defended with vigor to keep Chelsea at bay and bring back all three points from their trip to west London. But it all came undone in the end, starting with Dalot’s foul on Noni Madueke in the seventh minute. The exhausted Portuguese tripped the fresh-legged substitute inside the area, giving Palmer a chance to level the score with another penalty. The confident Englishman did not disappoint, sending the ball beyond Onana’s reach and into the bottom-right corner.
A minute after scoring the equalizer, Palmer sensationally bagged the winning goal from a late corner. After Enzo Fernandez found the in-form attacker on the edge of the area, the 21-year-old put his foot through the ball. His shot took a big deflection from Scott McTominay and flew past the United goal line, making it 4-3 for the hosts.
Going from 2-0 to 2-3 and finally finishing at 4-3, Chelsea went through a rollercoaster on Thursday. Luckily, they had hat-trick hero and boyhood Manchester United fan Palmer pulling for them, without whom they would not be sitting in the top half of the Premier League table.
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