Morgan Rogers outshone his good mate Cole Palmer on Saturday night, netting a superb goal to put Aston Villa two up against Chelsea before half-time.

The young starlet celebrated his second consecutive Premier League goal by mimicking Palmer's 'cold' celebration, a move that the Chelsea man has made his own this season.

But far from mocking the Blues star, Rogers was actually paying homage to his friendship with Palmer, seeing his goal as an opportunity to get one over his close pal.

Rogers, who has shared the pitch with Palmer for England's youth teams and Manchester City's academy, spoke highly of their bond earlier in the campaign: "He's one of the closest people I have in football and in life, one of those I speak to consistently," he said. "When you see him doing so well you feel happy and proud. To play against him would be something special."

Despite being suspended for Middlesbrough's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg victory over Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium, Rogers later joined Villa and is now relishing getting the upper hand over Palmer, adding an extra layer of satisfaction given their shared history.

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With 27 appearances together for England's Under-15, 17, and 18 squads, as well as time at City's Under-23s, the friendly rivalry between Palmer and Rogers continues to grow. Despite Palmer coming into this match with 20 league goals to his name, Rogers had only netted twice, albeit in just nine appearances.

However, it was the Villa player who made the initial impact as he skilfully cut inside onto his dominant right foot and fired a shot into the near post of Djordje Petrovic's goal, threading the ball through the legs of Trevoh Chalobah.