Cole Palmer stayed on the floor after missing a big chance. (Image: Getty)
manager insisted he was “happy” with Cole Palmer’s reaction after the forward missed a critical chance in his side’s defeat at . The slump in form continued for the visitors at Villa Park, with Marco Asensio’s brace after an early strike from Enzo Fernandez.
Asensio’s winner came in the 90th minute, courtesy of an error from keeper Filip Jorgensen.
However, minutes before that, Palmer had his own chance to define the contest when he went clean through on goal, but despite outfoxing Emiliano Martinez, the striker slipped as he shot, and his weak effort was cleared away by the retreating Ezri Konsa.
Palmer’s reaction was telling – he simply sat on the turf dismayed and watched as Villa then broke upfield. But Maresca argued his actions signified his desire rather than a lack of willingness to track back and help his team-mates.
“Cole is, I’ve said many times, a top player,” said the Italian post-match. “He belongs to that category. Because they are top, they want always to try and win games, always try to be the best
“He knows in that moment, he is not happy with the chance he missed. But on one side, we can be almost happy with his reaction because that means he feels bad about the chance he missed.”
Palmer now hasn’t scored in five Premier League games. (Image: Getty)
Palmer has looked out of sorts in 2025, a major factor in the Blues slipping out of the top four in the . He’s now gone five league games without scoring, his longest run since joining from in the summer of 2023.
Despite defending his talisman, Maresca did concede the miss signified a crucial moment in his side’s latest defeat. He even compared it to keeper Filip Jorgensen’s late blunder, as he allowed Asensio’s winner to squirm through his hands.
“It was around 75 or 80 minutes, that chance would’ve changed completely the game,” he said. “For me, it is quite similar to Filip – this is a moment where we are unfortunately in a bad run in terms of results but we are still there.”
now have just two wins in their last 10 Premier League games. Their latest loss follows last weekend, a factor which Maresca said made it even harder to swallow.
“This is, for me, probably the toughest defeat of the season,” he bemoaned. “The reason why is because the reaction from Brighton was brilliant, the performance was very good and unfortunately, in this moment, it is not enough. That’s why it is a tough one.”