It was a classic game of two halves but, in the end, the pressure is off Xabi Alonso for now. Manchester United dominated the first 45, racking up an xG of 1.09 and creating three big chances, but taking none of them, as the match remained goalless.

After the interval, everything changed. Morgan Rogers broke the deadlock with a sublime solo run and impudent finish, before a moment of madness from Lisandro Martínez. While defending a corner, the Argentine defender aggressively jumped into Wesley Fofana which, not only saw Peter Banks point to the penalty spot, resulted in the Man United defender being dismissed.

Cole Palmer, just about, converted the subsequent spot-kick and, in the end, the Blues could have scored many more. Estêvão Willian saw not one but two goals disallowed for offside, the second of which was extremely marginal. 2-0 it finished, and this was an important three points for Alonso, following back-to-back defeats against fierce rivals Tottenham and then Liverpool in the EFL Cup.

While Rogers and Estêvão were probably the stars in blue, it was a momentous afternoon for Palmer. As noted by Opta's the Analyst, this was the Englishman's 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea, coming on the occasion of his 105th appearance. Only two players in the club's history have reached this milestone faster, namely Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who took 84 matches, and Diego Costa, who needed one more.

Overall, Palmer is only the eighth man to reach 50 Premier League goals for Chelsea, joining some bona fide club legends.

Chelsea players to reach 50+ Premier League goals

Note: Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.

The aspect of the statistics above that immediately leaps off the page is just how impressive Diego Costa's scoring rate was, averaging a goal ever 145 league minutes across his three seasons in West London, winning two Premier League titles and a League Cup.

João Pedro has shown signs of being a similarly prolific centre-forward but, in the absence of a truly reliable goal-scorer, Alonso will need Palmer to produce on a regular basis. This spot-kick was his fifth of the season, albeit his first in seven Premier League appearances, dating back to August.

He may have won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, but will crave so much more, with it approaching a decade since Chelsea were most-recently Premier League champions. If Alonso is going to take them back to those heights again, at any point in the near future, Palmer will continue to be central to his plans.