Pochettino's message to Chelsea players before Palmer's record-breaking strike

04 April 2024 , 22:56

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Mauricio Pochettino enjoyed his best moment as Chelsea boss against Man Utd

Mauricio Pochettino made a point of telling his Chelsea players they had two minutes to find a winner before Cole Palmer's record-breaking strike.

The Blues led 2-0 and then trailed 3-2 against Manchester United as they sought an equaliser deep into stoppage time. A foul by Diogo Dalot presented Palmer with the chance to level the contest from the spot - with the 21-year-old converting his second spot kick of the night.

Stamford Bridge was happy to have rescued a point but Palmer's manager told his players how much time they had to find a winner with the hosts immediately going on the attack - with 82 seconds between their third and fourth goals.

Palmer told TNT Sports: "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 hat-trick is a hat-trick. It was my first one, I'm really happy about it.

"I had a few penalties this season. I'm just going to continue to try to score them. If I get penalties, I'm going to try to score, I'm not going to try to miss. When we scored he [Pochettino] said two minutes, come on. He's always trying to drive us on. We went for it and thankfully we scored. It's a big winner. It's a massive momentum booster. It puts everyone in a good mood. Hopefully we can kick on."

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Pochettino has come under huge pressure in his first season as Blues boss with the draw against struggling Burnley at the weekend leading to more questions. Had the hosts given up their early lead against the Red Devils then the Argentine would've been facing more critics.

Palmer has proved to be the only summer signing who has been a hit with Chelsea's lavishly assembled squad by no means living up to the sum of their parts. The three points lifts the Blues into the top-half of the table, but they're still someway off European qualification.

Cole Palmer's stoppage time heroics secured three points

Pochettino said on the victory: "We needed a game and victory like this. We needed to connect with our fans since if not it's tough for the players. We are the youngest team in Europe's big five leagues, and this will be a big boost for us."

Chelsea head to Sheffield United, who are at the foot of the Premier League, on Sunday aiming to secure successive wins for just the second time this season. They're now just five points behind United with a game in hand.

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Samuel Meade