Cole Palmer breaks huge Premier League record with Panenka penalty against Tottenham | OneFootball

Cole Palmer has established himself as the best penalty taker in Premier League history after converting all 12 of his spot-kicks in the competition.

Chelsea's talismanic playmaker completed his perfect dozen with an audacious Panenka, dinking in the fourth goal of Sunday's 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Palmer had already rattled one penalty beyond Fraser Forster's formidable wingspan to haul the Blues level and turned on the style when presented with his second chance from the spot.

Before moving to west London in a £45m transfer at the end of the 2023 summer window, Palmer had never taken a penalty in senior football. A regular spot-kick specialist for Manchester City's U18 team, the England international was given Chelsea's penalty against Burnley in October 2023 by Raheem Sterling while searching for his first goal in the capital.

Palmer duly converted at Turf Moor and assumed spot-kick duties thereafter. However, that status has been repeatedly questioned by Palmer's teammates. When Chelsea were awarded a penalty against Arsenal later in October 2023, Sterling tried to take the ball off his former City colleague. Enzo Fernandez stepped in and insisted that Palmer should take aim.

During a 6-0 obliteration of Everton in April 2024, at a point in the match when Palmer had already scored a brilliant hat-trick from open play, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson both battled each other for the ball. Amid the unseemly spat, Palmer confidently stepped up and beat Jordan Pickford for a fourth time that evening.

Best Premier League penalty takers of all time

Cole Palmer is always calmness personified when taking a penalty / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages

Minimum ten penalties attempted. Data via Opta.

Despite the distinct lack of support from his teammates, Palmer has not misplaced a single spot kick throughout his superb career thus far. By keeping his nerve not once but twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the 22-year-old surpassed the high watermark held by Yaya Toure for the best perfect penalty record in Premier League history.

The Manchester City icon dispatched all 11 of his spot kicks in England's top flight, although could perhaps have bolstered that tally had he not shared duties with Sergio Aguero. The Argentine - for the record - only converted 82% of his Premier League penalties (26/33).

Two of the division's current stars - Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka - also boast impressive records from 12 yards, but have both missed one top-flight spot kick.

There is no grand plan behind Palmer's penalty approach. As the forward revealed earlier this season: "I just put the ball down on the spot, step back and shoot. A couple of times I changed my mind as I ran up."

Even after his record-breaking, match-sealing strike against Spurs, Palmer could barely break out of a disinterested mumble while explaining his Panenka. Leaning against the advertising hoarding, Chelsea's game-winner shrugged: "I looked at the clock and thought it's a bit frantic, the game's all over the place. The keeper was ready to dive so I thought if I chipped it would go in - and it did." Just like every other penalty he has taken.