'I hate to say it': Cole Palmer reminds Gary Lineker of Lionel Messi after Chelsea talisman's heroics against Newcastle

Gary Lineker has compared Cole Palmer to Lionel Messi after his performance against Newcastle.

The Blues beat the Magpies 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and Palmer was awarded Player of the Match.

But that wasn't the only praise he received, with former England striker Lineker comparing Palmer's pass to Pedro Neto for Nicolas Jackson's goal to the type produced by the greatest Messi.

Talking about the The break is a football podcastLineker said: “That pass, the vision and the awareness, as well as the weight of the pass.

“I hate to say it, but it was almost (Lionel) Messi-esque in the way of 'how did you see that pass?'

“I mean, please, what a talent.”

Messi, an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, regularly splits defenses with unexpected and incredible passes.

And Palmer is probably quite happy to be compared to him, given that he chose the World Cup winner instead of christian ronaldo in a Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate at the Professional Football Association Awards this summer.

jackson record level opener It was ruled out by Newcastle's Alexander Isak less than 15 minutes later.

But the man of the moment got back up just after the break to give his team the lead back.

He sweetly tapped the ball into the bottom left corner to score his seventh Premier League goal of the season.

Pundit and former Manchester City star Micah Richards also praised Palmer on The Rest Is Football.

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But he also praised Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who replaced Mauricio Pochettino in the summer, for making his team click too.

“That Chelsea “What I did very well at times was use (Robert) Sánchez and create those three, then wait for Newcastle to get involved and then just play with them,” he said.

“(Malo) Gusto played higher at times, like a no. 10, and left this big void in the midfield for Cole Palmer basically just move on (the ball).

“I know we have to give Palmer credit, but it's the way Maresca has prepared his team for Palmer to have the ball and do what he does so well.”

In addition to bringing fans to their feet, Palmer also had her followers in hysterics after other hilarious post-match interview – this time about Gianfranco Zola.

Chelsea rose to fourth place after their 2-1 win, before being pushed to fifth place after Arsenal's 2-2 draw against Liverpool.