Cole Palmer struggled to contain his anger after being replaced by a 20-minute opening during Chelsea’s match against Manchester United. It was the start of a nightmare for Bruce. Blues had fewer numbers in early exchanges. Robert Sanchez was shown a straight red card for a reckless foul at United forward Brian Mbemo, and climbed Chelsea to the top.
Enzo Maresca made two changes to respond, and now Philip Jorgensen fills in between the sticks. The Chelsea boss has now entered damage limit mode, which has left Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian hooked. United then opened the score via Bruno Fernandez.
Palmer was then replaced after just 20 minutes, and Andrei Santos came out of the bench to replace him. The former jumped out of the pitch and seemed to be throwing something to the ground in a moment of anger, making him seem furious.
The playmaker grabbed his jacket and instead of sitting on the bench with his Chelsea teammates, he walked straight down the tunnel.
The change appears to have been made clear due to the injury, and Palmer pointed to his gro caliber as he went down his path from the pitch. He later returned to the bench with an ice pack, clutching it at the affected area.
Sky Sports co-op Alan Smith said, “If you want to go back to this game, Cole Palmer is the one who does that. But whether he’s carrying a knock or not is another matter.”
It came after Maresca praised Palmer before the match at Old Trafford and told Sky Sports:
“But we knew Cole would be available throughout the season, so we need to find a solution and find a way to win the game like West Ham and Fulham.
“We definitely need Cole. He’s growing a lot, especially in terms of personality. I’m not saying he’s one of the leaders, but he’s growing in that aspect.”
At a press conference Friday, the Chelsea manager said: “Yes, call is fine. There’s a training session where you can see the players.
“I came back yesterday (from Munich), so I need to evaluate some of them before I make a decision over the weekend.
“We’ve not had a session since Wednesday’s game, and I have doubts, but we’ll see it after today’s training session.”
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