Chelsea’s players will have left Wembley with a similar thought to the fans who streamed out after 120 minutes yesterday – how did we not win that?

Virgil Van Dijk’s extra-time header separated the two sides in the EFL Cup final, with the Blues blowing their chance at winning the first trophy since the change of ownership.

It was also another opportunity gone begging for manager Mauricio Pochettino to win his first trophy in English football, as he was forced to watch Jurgen Klopp lift the first honour of the season.

The players will have put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform, given the fact that it could be their best chance at qualifying for European football next season.

It was perhaps not an ideal time then for some of the players to have off days, and who was far from his best was Cole Palmer.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

The 21-year-old has been a shining light this season after joining on deadline day last summer from Manchester City for £45m.

However, yesterday saw him struggle in possession badly, something which has been rare since he joined the club.

Palmer stayed on the pitch for 120 minutes, with Pochettino clearly wanting to keep his best penalty taker on for if the game went all the way.

Palmer disappointing performance

This was while the likes of Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson were replaced alongside him, with neither of them managing to have a real impact in the final third either.

Given the standards Palmer has set in his first season in London, it is always going to be more obvious when he isn’t at his best, and Chelsea were really missing their creative force for large portions of the game yesterday.

He won’t have long to pick himself up, with the Blues back in action in the FA Cup against Leeds on Wednesday.