Chelsea star Cole Palmer has slammed his social media critics after ending his 18-match goal drought with a goal against Liverpool on Sunday.
Palmer produced an impressive performance and added a goal at the last moments of the game to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead over the new Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez gave Chelsea the lead in the third minute Jarell Quansah scored an own goal to increase Chelsea’s lead in the second half.
Van Dijk gave Liverpool a lifeline in the 85th minute to make it 2-1, and Cole Palmer scored the third goal from the penalty spot after Quansah fouled Caicedo.
It was Palmer’s first goal since he scored against Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw in January, enduring a drought that lasted for 18 matches.
The former Manchester City young star was delighted to end his drought while blasting his critics on social media.
He said: “It gives me more fight to do well not just for myself, but for my team.
“Social media nowadays is full of idiots, the trolls and whatever. I don’t pay any attention to that. To score today, I’m happy, but I’ve got to keep improving and try to reach new levels.
“If you’re getting chances and not scoring… you’re letting your team down at the end of the day. I feel like I’m mentally strong anyway so whatever people say, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve had it all the time growing up.
“I feel pride in helping the team and if I’m not doing that, I’m not happy. Today, I felt like myself. I felt confident, I was trying things, first time passes, playing forward, playing free and when you have him [Moises Caicedo] next to you, it’s a dream.”
Chelsea coach, Enzo Maresca was delighted for Palmer who scored his 15th Premier League goal of the season.
He said: “Probably from the outside but we saw Cole day-by-day on the training ground and he is exactly the same way, scoring goals and happy. Enjoying the session.
“For sure, when he is not scoring goals he is not happy and the reason why is because he probably wants to help the team and the club to reach something important.”
Maresca also showered encomiums on Romeo Lavia, who impressed for Chelsea in the encounter.
He said: “You can see that we are a better team with Romeo. Unfortunately, he has been injured for most of the season. Probably in this moment he has been the difference between us and many clubs because we had many important players for us that have been injured. Romeo is one of them. Wes Fofana is another one.
“We had Nico [Jackson] for two months [out]. Romeo showed again today how important he is for the team and how good he is.”
Palmer has scored 15 goals and recorded 10 assists in all competitions for Chelsea this season.
Chelsea will return to Premier League action next Sunday when they take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
