Cole Palmer has established himself as the greatest penalty taker in Premier League history after converting all 12 of his spot-kicks in the competition.
Chelsea’s talismanic playmaker completed his perfect dozen with an audacious Panenka, volleying in Sunday’s fourth goal. 4-3 win over Tottenham. Palmer had already slotted a penalty past Fraser Forster’s formidable winger to bring the Blues level and opened up in style when presented with the second chance from the spot.
Before moving to west London in a £45m transfer at the end of the 2023 summer window, Palmer had never taken a penalty in senior football. A regular spot-kick for Manchester City’s U18s, the England international was given Chelsea’s penalty against Burnley in October 2023 by Raheem Sterling while searching for his first goal in the capital.
Palmer duly converted at Turf Moor and took over spot-kick duties afterwards. However, this status has been repeatedly questioned by Palmer’s teammates. When Chelsea awarded a penalty against Arsenal later in October 2023, Sterling attempted to strip the ball from his former City colleague. Enzo Fernandez intervened and insisted that Palmer should aim.
During the 6-0 thrashing of Everton in April 2024at one point in the match when Palmer had already scored a brilliant hat-trick from open play, Noni Maduek and Nicholas Jackson battled each other for the ball. In the midst of the unacceptable fracas, Palmer stepped up with confidence and beat Jordan Pickford for the fourth time that night.
|
Class |
Player |
Penalty record |
|---|---|---|
|
1. |
Cole Palmer |
100% (12/12) |
|
2. |
Yaya Toure |
100% (11/11) |
|
3. |
Matt Le Tissier |
96.2% (25/26) |
|
4. |
Danny Murphy |
94.7% (18/19) |
|
5= |
Callum Wilson |
94.1% (16/17) |
|
5= |
James Beatty |
94.1% (16/17) |
|
7= |
Julian Dix |
93.8% (15/16) |
|
7= |
Erling Haaland |
93.8% (15/16) |
|
9. |
Thierry Henry |
92.0% (23/25) |
|
10= |
Ivan Toney |
91.7% (11/12) |
|
10= |
Bucayo Saka |
91.7% (11/12) |
At least ten penalties were attempted. Data via choose.
Despite a clear lack of support from his teammates, Palmer hasn’t dropped a single point throughout his magnificent career so far. Keeping his nerve not once but twice in the Tottenham Stadium, the 22-year-old overtook the high watermark held by Yaya Toure for the best penalty perfect record in Premier League history.
The Manchester City icon has netted all 11 of his spots in England’s top flight, although he could perhaps have boosted that tally had he not been sharing duties with Sergio Aguero. The Argentine – for the record – converted only 82% of his penalties in the Premier League (26/33).
Two of today’s stars in the division – Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and the Arsenal striker Bucayo Saka – also have impressive records from 12 yards, but both have missed a league-leading kick.
There is no grand scheme behind Palmer’s penalty shootout approach. As the forward revealed earlier this season: “I just put the ball in the spot, step back and shoot. Sometimes I changed my mind as I was running.”
Even after his record-tying hit of the match against SpursPalmer could barely manage an indifferent mumble as he explained his Panenka. Leaning against the ad hoarding, Chelsea’s match-winner shrugged: “I looked at the clock and thought it was a bit frantic, the play was all over the place. The keeper was about to dive so I thought if I chipped it would go in – and he did.” Like every other penalty he has taken.
