EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The images of Cole Palmer’s first left-footed, side-netting-bound curler were still playing on repeat at the Club World Cup final Sunday afternoon when another replay unfolded in real time on the field at MetLife Stadium.
The Chelsea attacker started by connecting with Levi Colwill’s long ball down the right flank and slaloming inside. Palmer then shook his marker with a glance toward João Pedro’s overlapping run. Finally, the 23-year-old Englishman teed up from the top of the box — just as he had eight minutes earlier — and slotted a strike to the right of Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.