Cole Palmer Goes Nuclear: Chelsea Star Becomes First-Ever Player In PL History To...

Last Updated:February 08, 2026, 14:29 IST

Cole Palmer made Premier League history with his third first-half hat-trick, torching Wolves at Molineux and marking his 100th Chelsea appearance with a bang.

Cole Palmer chose the perfect stage to shake off his slump, and then rewrote Premier League history while he was at it.

The Chelsea star torched Wolves at Molineux with a devastating first-half hat-trick, becoming the first player ever to score three first-half hat-tricks in Premier League history.

Two ice-cold penalties and a long-awaited open-play strike later, Palmer had Wolves reeling and the record books scrambling.

He’d done it before — three before the break against Everton in April 2024, then Brighton five months later — but this one hit different.

Not only did it end his league drought from open play that stretched back to December, it also snapped a frustrating season interrupted by injuries and limited minutes.

At just 23, Palmer now stands alone. Erling Haaland has managed two first-half hat-tricks, the same tally as legends Andrew Cole and Michael Owen across their entire careers.

Palmer? He’s already on three.

The timing was poetic too. Making his 100th appearance for Chelsea, Palmer marked the milestone by becoming the club’s most prolific hat-trick scorer of the Premier League era, with four treble strikes to his name. He also crossed another landmark, bringing up 51 goals for Chelsea in all competitions.

The Premier League hadn’t seen a first-half hat-trick in almost a year, not since Omar Marmoush did it for Manchester City in February 2025.

And then there’s Molineux, clearly his happy place. This was Palmer’s third straight visit to Wolves, featuring at least three goal involvements.

Last season, he didn’t score here—he just casually laid on a hat-trick of assists instead.

In a campaign where confidence and rhythm have been hard to come by, Palmer’s Wolves explosion felt like a reset button being smashed.

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