Alonso urges Cole Palmer to learn from red card after Chelsea lose 2-0 to Tottenham at Stamford Bridge
Xabi Alonso urged Cole Palmer to learn from a red card after Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat by Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on 24 October 2026. Palmer was sent off after 80 minutes for a second yellow card.
Tottenham secured their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018, the goals coming from a Mike Penders own goal and a late effort from Mathys Tel in a 2-0 victory. Spurs, who had won on one of their previous 34 trips to west London, were already 1-0 up when Palmer earned the second yellow for catching Conor Gallagher with a late tackle. The playmaker’s dismissal followed an earlier booking during a clash with Mateus Fernandes.
Palmer’s second booking occurred around the 80th minute and his first had been issued after the incident with Fernandes; Alonso said the episode was one the 24-year-old should learn from. “Absolutely,” Chelsea’s manager said. “I haven’t seen them [back] on TV but as far as I have been told probably he [the referee] got it right. We need to have this maturity to deal with difficult moments. When you have conceded for 1-0, still probably it was 15-20 minutes to go. I need to check the action to talk with Cole but it is one to learn for the future for sure.”
Alonso said there were no broader concerns about Palmer’s character despite the red card and the player having come close to dismissal the previous weekend. Chelsea’s No 10 could have been sent off against Everton last weekend too. “Today, for sure, yes, but it is not a concern,” Alonso said. “It is a moment to keep calm, a moment to keep mature, for everyone.”
Chelsea also struggled without João Pedro after he picked up an unspecified injury in training on Friday and the club do not yet know when he will return. “He has a lot of fluid,” Alonso said. “He felt it yesterday and we need to wait to do the test and to know the whole seriousness of the injury.”
Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net on his full Premier League debut and Alonso defended the goalkeeper following the mistake. Alonso said the squad would back the player despite the error. “We win, we lose together,” he said. “We support Mike and we support the rest of the team. He will learn from that.”
Roberto De Zerbi said Spurs should use the victory as a platform to improve. “Why not?” the Spurs manager said. “There is no reason why not. I can’t understand why we have to ask this question. 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. I think we have suffered enough.”
