Xabi Alonso said Cole Palmer must learn from his red card in Chelsea’s shock 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, who secured their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018 thanks to a Mike Penders own goal and a late Mathys Tel effort.
Spurs, who had won on one of their previous 34 trips to west London, were already 1-0 up when Palmer was shown a second yellow card for catching Conor Gallagher with a late tackle. The playmaker could have been sent off sooner – his first booking came during a clash with Mateus Fernandes – and Alonso agreed it could be an important lesson for the 24-year-old.
“Absolutely,” said the Chelsea manager. “I haven’t seen them on TV, but from what I’ve been told, he (the referee) probably did things correctly. We need to have that maturity to handle difficult moments. When you conceded 1-0, there were probably 15-20 minutes left. I have to check the action to speak with Cole, but it’s definitely a lesson to learn for the future.”
Alonso said there were no wider concerns over Palmer’s character, although the Chelsea number 10 could also have been sent off against Everton last weekend. “Today it’s safe, yes, but it’s not a problem,” Alonso said. “It’s a time to stay calm, a time to stay mature, for everyone.”
Chelsea have struggled without João Pedro and are unsure when the striker will return after picking up an injury in training on Friday. “He has a lot of fluid,” Alonso said. “He felt it yesterday and we have to wait to do the test and know the full severity of the injury.”
Alonso defended Penders after the goalkeeper scored a corner into his own net on his full Premier League debut. “We win, we lose together,” he said. “We support Mike and we support the rest of the team. He will learn from this.”
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Roberto De Zerbi hopes Spurs can use this victory as a springboard. “Why not?” » said the Spurs manager. “There’s no reason not to do it. I don’t understand why we have to ask that question. Because we’ve won two games in a row. But we haven’t won anything. We want to improve, improve and improve, be better game after game, week after week. I think we’ve suffered enough.”
Gn sports
