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Palmer became the first player to score four goals before half-time in a single Premier League match, leading Enzo Maresca’s side to a fourth straight victory in all competitions.
Brighton took an early lead through Georginio Rutter’s header, but were powerless as Palmer took command of the contest with a rapid hat-trick.
His quadruple came in the space of 20 minutes, with Carlos Baleba’s strike to make it 3-2 swiftly cancelled out by the Chelsea talisman’s fourth goal of an extraordinary performance.
The Blues climb to fourth place, a point behind Manchester City and Arsenal, while Brighton drop to eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Chelsea fell behind in the seventh minute when Levi Colwill’s attempted clearance deflected high into the air, and Rutter bravely outjumped Robert Sanchez to nod home.
However, Palmer then took centre stage. The Blues forward had already been denied by a post and offside flag when he slotted into an empty net in the 21st minute after Nicolas Jackson pounced on Adam Webster’s loose back pass.
Palmer put Chelsea ahead from the penalty spot seven minutes later after Baleba bundled over Jadon Sancho, before completing his hat-trick just after the half-hour mark with a magnificent 25-yard free-kick.
Baleba halved the deficit when he punished Sanchez’s loose pass, but Palmer grabbed his and Chelsea’s fourth in the 41st minute, latching onto Sancho’s through-ball and firing past Bart Verbruggen at his near post.
Palmer almost turned provider four minutes after the restart with a sublime first-time pass finding Jackson, who was brilliantly denied on the line by Webster.
The former Man City forward then shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat, while the offside flag denied Marc Cucurella a goal against his former club, but the hosts had already done enough to secure the three points.
History-making Palmer pulls the strings once more
There is no doubting who is Chelsea’s main man.
Palmer completed his hat-trick in the space of only nine minutes and 46 seconds, though – but for the woodwork and offside flag – he could have done so in just two minutes.
He also slotted a decent opportunity wide after the break, so we could have been saluting the first player to score six or more goals in a single Premier League match, if not for some fine margins.
Cucurella also had an effort ruled out for offside, as did Sancho who, along with Palmer, Noni Madueke and Jackson in an unchanged and settled front four, looked dangerous every time they attacked Brighton’s high defensive line.
Now with four straight wins under their belt – and a league-high 15 goals from their first six encounters – Chelsea will be eager to keep that momentum going at home to Nottingham Forest next weekend. It has certainly been an excellent start for Maresca, and with Palmer in this kind of form, the Blues look well set to challenge at the top.
Seagulls have their wings clipped
Brighton were unbeaten in their opening five games and looking to make it six matches in a row without a defeat for the first time in a top-flight season.
They made a decent start, snatching an early lead against the run of play, while Danny Welbeck’s deflected cross also gave their former goalkeeper Sanchez – who endured a difficult day – a scare.
However, that seemed to spark Chelsea into life and Brighton always looked vulnerable to their opponents’ pace and power in attack.
All four goals they conceded saw slight defensive lapses ruthlessly punished by the Blues, and in particular Palmer.
First, Webster’s loose back pass led to the equaliser opener, then Baleba and Pervis Estupinan’s fouls were converted from the respective dead-ball situations by Palmer, whose fourth came after Verbruggen’s sloppy pass out from the back.
To their credit, the visitors kept battling away in search of a route back into the contest and, despite the defeat, they have positives to build on ahead of hosting Tottenham next weekend.
Club reports
Chelsea report | Brighton report
Match officials
Referee: Peter Bankes. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Nick Greenhalgh. Fourth official: David Webb. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall.
PREMIER LEAGUE