(Video): Cole Palmer’s icy finish puts Chelsea level with Brentford | OneFootball

Game on at the G Tech Community Stadium!

Chelsea have been dire so far, so poor that Enzo Maresca had made 3 changes by half time and 4 by the 55th minute. One of them – Cole Palmer – has made the difference.

Palmer saves his team after just minutes on the pitch

Cole Palmer celebrates against Brentford. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images)

The attacking midfielder has been managing a groin injury, but it took him just a couple of minutes on the pitch to change the game here. Joao Pedro – who hasn’t been able to offer much against a super competitive and physical Brentford back line – competed really well for a header that dropped perfectly for his teammate in the box.

Palmer makes even the most simple things look cool, and he did just that here – his first time, half volley left foot finish left the keeper standing as the team’s talisman wheeled away doing his trademark celebration.

Chelsea hardly deserve it – they’ve not created much, although things are opening up now following the changes. The question is if they have time to go on and win this.

You can see the goal in the clips embedded here:

[Footage from Sky Sports]

[Footage from Canal Plus]

Chelsea forced to use their trump card just when they didn’t want to

We really didn’t want to have to use Palmer today. There are huge games to come and he’s clearly not fit. But Maresca wasn’t going to let the points slip away here without bringing on his best player, and the value of the attacking midfielder has been showed with his instant impact.

Let’s hope it doesn’t cost us next week or in the future. This is a long season and we’re already struggling with injuries and fatigue. The last thing we need is for a key player like Cole to turn his problem into something more permanent.