Cole Palmer hit a hattrick, which included a brace of penalties, to help Chelsea defeat Manchester United in a seven-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening.

Conor Gallagher’s fourth-minute strike opened the flood of goals, and Chelsea was cruising when Cole Palmer scored a nineteenth-minute penalty. 

However, Alejandro Garnacho scored in the 34th minute while Bruno Fernandes scored 5 minutes later to level the score at 2-2 and throw the game open. Garnacho got his brace in the 67th minute, and it looked good like the match-winner until Palmer’s stoppage-time brace gave Chelsea all three points.

“Crazy game. When we scored in the 98th minute, I thought, let’s go for it. Madness. I didn’t know what to do. I was running round when I scored. A hattrick is a hattrick. It was my first one; I’m really happy about it.” Palmer said.

Manchester United will face table-toppers Liverpool on Sunday over the weekend, while the Blues will travel to the relegation strugglers Sheffield United. The Blades faced Liverpool on Thursday as well but lost to the Reds.

Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League table on Thursday evening after securing a comeback 3-1 victory over Sheffield United at Anfield. The Reds dropped into second position on Wednesday after Arsenal defeated Luton Town 2-0 to people Jurgen Klopp’s side with a single point.

Liverpool were level on points with Manchester City, who also recorded a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday and needed to win to stay in advantage in the title race.

Darwin Nunez had opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but Conor Bradley’s own goal two minutes before the hour mark gave the Blades hopes of a point at Anfield. A stunning strike from Alexis McAllister in the 78 minutes, plus a late goal from Coady Gakpo, secured the 3-1 victory for Liverpool.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu