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Cole Palmer has taken to social media to apologise after he was sent off in Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The Blues playmaker was shown a red in the 80th minute after picking up a second yellow card for standing on former Blues' midfielder Conor Gallagher, with a 'naughty' challenge. Palmer had already been booked nine minutes earlier for clattering Spurs' star Matues Fernandes as he tried to get up from the floor.
The Portuguese midfielder had handled the ball on the floor to stop a Chelsea break, which left Palmer incensed. The England international clattered into Fernandes, who was also booked for his involvement in the incident.
Palmer has now taken to social media to apologise. Writing on his Instagram story, the Blues star said: "Not good enough by me. Live 'n' learn! Apologies. Onto the next."
An own goal from Mike Penders and a Mathys Tel strike was enough to give Roberto De Zerbi's side their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2016.
Chelsea were a goal down when Palmer was shown a second yellow, and despite pleading his innocence, former England defender Gary Neville felt the 24-year-old was lucky to be on the pitch after the first booking, let alone the second. "Cole Palmer's lost his head in these last few minutes," Neville said on commentary duties.
"He was lucky to avoid a red card earlier, and that one is a no-brainer. To do that five minutes after the challenge on Fernandes is just silly.
"He sticks his studs in, he knows exactly what he is doing. Naughty, really naughty."
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso was also forced into action, revealing he'd speak with Palmer after the red card and had no arguments about the decision. Speaking after the game, Alonso said: "Absolutely. I've not seen it but I've been told it's right. We think [up until] now we haven't received any red cards and we need to continue that way because we need to have this maturity to deal with difficult moments.
"When you have conceded 1-0, still probably there was 15-20 minutes to go, so we have to be on the way. I need to check the action to talk with Cole but it is one to learn for the future for sure."
Chelsea's disciplinary record was a major cause for concern and Alonso echoed the comments of his predeccessors, and said: "We need to work and we need to improve on that.
"I think we spoke about those things, and to know that in those situations that one first yellow card can be decisive. As we have seen, it is a process of the maturity of the team and of the individual players as well."
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