Cole Palmer penalty saved in Chelsea vs Leicester as ‘brilliant’ Hermansen makes history

Chelsea top scorer Cole Palmer failed to score from a penalty for the first time in his career as Leicester City goalkeeper Mads Hermansen denied the England international from the spot at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea looked certain to go ahead when Victor Kristiansen conceded a penalty for a 20th-minute foul on Jadon Sancho in the Premier League – only for Dane Hermansen to deny Palmer.

“It was an absolutely brilliant save,” former Foxes and Blues goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer told BBC Radio 5 Live. “He waits until the last second and spreads himself, full stretch to his left.

“Cole Palmer’s hit that with pace – he’s gone for pace, power and direction. He’s gone for power over placement and the goalkeeper just does so, so well. It’s a really good save.”

Cole Palmer thought he was going to score his first goal since January 14th…

Instead he missed his first penalty ever for Chelsea 🙃 pic.twitter.com/IdsVzdOymm

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 9, 2025

Cole Palmer misses penalty

The Chelsea Player of the Season for 2023/24 has netted all 17 spot kicks he has been recorded as taking by statistics website Transfermarkt.

Nine of his 16 in the Premier League came during his outstanding first campaign at Chelsea, and he added one for England against Bosnia and Herzegovina last June.

The former Manchester City prospect has scored three penalties this season, first converting at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in September before bagging two in one game at Tottenham in December.

HUGE from Mads! 👏 👏 pic.twitter.com/bby0TXqjQG

— Leicester City (@LCFC) March 9, 2025

Chelsea vs Leicester

Leicester are 29 points behind Chelsea in the table but almost scored shortly afterwards when Tosin Adarabioyo headed against his own crossbar during a mix-up with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

Palmer earned the nickname ‘Cold’ for his ability to keep his cool on his way to scoring 27 times in all competitions last season, but the 22-year-old entered the encounter on an eight-game run without a goal in all competitions.

“He’s on a bad run of form, by his standards,” added Schwarzer. “The penalty was one of someone without huge amounts of confidence.

“It wasn’t Cole Palmer’s best penalty but, any time a goalkeeper saves from the penalty spot like that, it goes down as a very good save.”

Chelsea will move above Manchester City to fourth if they avoid defeat, while Leicester started six points behind fourth-bottom Wolves.