Cole Palmer has rewritten Premier League historical past, turning into essentially the most dependable penalty-taker within the competitors’s historical past.
In Chelsea’s thrilling 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Palmer coolly transformed two penalties, taking his excellent document to 12 penalties scored from 12 makes an attempt.
This feat surpasses the legendary Yaya Toure, who scored all 11 penalties he took for Manchester Metropolis throughout his illustrious profession.
Palmer, reflecting on his achievement, mentioned, “It’s a privilege to contribute to this crew, and to interrupt a document held by somebody like Yaya Toure is surreal. However for me, it’s about staying targeted and doing my job for Chelsea.”
Toure’s document had remained unbeaten since his Premier League debut in 2010. Even Ivan Toney, who got here near matching it in April 2023, fell brief when Nick Pope saved his eleventh penalty try.
That is in response to a launch on the EPL web site on Monday.
Satirically, Toney redeemed himself by scoring a penalty later in the identical match, however the elusive document stayed intact—till Palmer’s extraordinary type.
Palmer’s closest challengers at present embody Fulham’s Raul Jimenez, who has transformed all eight of his Premier League penalties, and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wooden, who’ve each maintained excellent data with seven targets every.
Others are ex-EPL gamers: Dimitar Berbatov is on 9 and Ruben Neves on 8.
Past his penalty exploits, Palmer’s contributions to Chelsea are nothing in need of exceptional.
His two targets in opposition to Spurs took his tally to 50 mixed targets and assists (33 targets, 17 assists) in simply 48 Premier League matches for the Blues.
Solely Erling Haaland (39 matches), Andrew Cole (43 matches), and Mohamed Salah (46 matches) have reached this milestone quicker for a single membership within the competitors.
Premier League Penalty Royalty
Palmer’s achievement ignites debate about whether or not he might be the very best penalty-taker in Premier League historical past.
Whereas Palmer’s 100% conversion charge is unmatched, legends like Matt Le Tissier (25/26, 96.2%) and Danny Murphy (18/19, 94.7%) boast distinctive data.
Even present stars like Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka, and Alexis Mac Allister have missed solely as soon as, underscoring the elite firm Palmer now retains.
Finest Penalty Conversion Charges in Premier League Historical past (Minimal 10 Makes an attempt)
- Cole Palmer: 12 taken, 12 scored (100%)
- Yaya Toure: 11 taken, 11 scored (100%)
- Matt Le Tissier: 26 taken, 25 scored (96.2%)
- Danny Murphy: 19 taken, 18 scored (94.7%)
- Callum Wilson: 17 taken, 16 scored (94.1%)
- James Beattie: 17 taken, 16 scored (94.1%)
- Julian Dicks: 16 taken, 15 scored (93.8%)
- Erling Haaland: 16 taken, 15 scored (93.8%)
- Thierry Henry: 25 taken, 23 scored (92.0%)
- Ivan Toney: 12 taken, 11 scored (91.7%)
- Bukayo Saka: 12 taken, 11 scored (91.7%)
- Leighton Baines: 22 taken, 20 scored (90.9%)
- Danny Ings: 11 taken, 10 scored (90.9%)
- Gary Pace: 11 taken, 10 scored (90.9%)
- Frank Leboeuf: 11 taken, 10 scored (90.9%)
- Peter Beardsley: 20 taken, 18 scored (90.0%)
- Alexis Mac Allister: 10 taken, 9 scored (90.0%)
The league’s all-time penalty chief, Alan Shearer, transformed 56 out of 67 makes an attempt, whereas names like Frank Lampard (43 targets), Harry Kane (33), and Steven Gerrard (32) function prominently within the penalty scoring charts.
On the flip facet, gamers like Juan Pablo Angel (50%), Dwight Yorke (60%), and Wayne Rooney (68%) struggled to seek out constant success from the spot.
Worst Penalty Conversion Charges in Premier League Historical past (Minimal 10 Makes an attempt)
- Juan Pablo Angel: 10 taken, 5 scored (50%)
- Dwight Yorke: 10 taken, 6 scored (60%)
- Steed Malbranque: 10 taken, 6 scored (60%)
- Kevin Phillips: 18 taken, 11 scored (61%)
- Aleksandar Mitrović: 13 taken, 8 scored (62%)
- Paul Pogba: 11 taken, 7 scored (64%)
- Wilfried Zaha: 11 taken, 7 scored (64%)
- Michael Owen: 21 taken, 14 scored (67%)
- Christian Benteke: 15 taken, 10 scored (67%)
- Wayne Rooney: 34 taken, 23 scored (68%)
- Teddy Sheringham: 31 taken, 21 scored (68%)
- Riyad Mahrez: 19 taken, 13 scored (68%)