Alonso urges Cole Palmer ‘to learn’ from red card in Chelsea’s defeat to Spurs
Xabi Alonso said Cole Palmer must learn from his red card during Chelsea's shock 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, who claimed their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018.
Spurs, who had won on just one of their previous 34 trips to west London, were already 1-0 up when Palmer earned a second yellow card for catching Conor Gallagher with a late tackle. The playmaker could have been sent off earlier – his first booking came during a clash with Mateus Fernandes – and Alonso agreed this could be an important lesson for the 24-year-old.
Manager's Response
Alonso acknowledged the red card while defending Palmer's character. I haven't seen them on TV but as far as I have been told probably he got it right. We need to have this maturity to deal with difficult moments, he said.
Team Concerns
Chelsea also faces uncertainty about forward João Pedro, who picked up an unspecified injury in training. Alonso revealed the player has "a lot of fluid" and they need to wait for test results to determine the seriousness of the injury.
The manager defended goalkeeper Mike Penders after the young keeper punched a corner into his own net on his full Premier League debut, stating: We win, we lose together. We support Mike and we support the rest of the team. He will learn from that.
Spurs Momentum
Tottenham's manager Roberto De Zerbi expressed hope that this victory could be a springboard for his team. Why not? There is no reason why not, he said. "Because we won two games in a row. But we didn't win nothing. We want to improve, improve and improve, to be better game by game, week by week."
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