Brighton 3-1 Crystal Palace: Report, Ratings & Reaction as 10-Men Seagulls Fight to Victory
Brighton got the better of their M23 rivals Crystal Palace, winning 3-1 in a tense Premier League affair on Tuesday evening.
Brighton looked to be the more alert of the two sides early on and they opened the scoring midway through the first half.
James McCarthur was judged to have brought down Jose Izquierdo down in the box and former Palace man Glenn Murray duly tucked home the resulting penalty.
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That goal kicked the game into life and chaos soon reigned. Murray was pushed over in the box and, after a corner was awarded instead of a penalty, Shane Duffy was sent off after clearly pushing his head into Patrick van Aanholt.
Incredibly, Brighton scored straight from the corner kick. Leon Balogun, who had just been brought on after Duffy's red card, swept home a sweet half volley with what was his first touch of the game.
Against all the odds, Brighton made it three on the stroke of half-time. Florin Andone, another substitute, latched on to a long ball and ran all the way down the wing before cutting inside and firing the ball beyond Wayne Hennessey.
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The second half was nowhere near as lively, but Palace did give themselves a glimmer of hope with ten minutes left on the clock. Luka Milivojevic tucked home a confident penalty after Wilfried Zaha was wiped out by Balogun, giving Brighton fans something to worry about.
As it turned out, they didn't need to worry and the Seagulls held firm to earn a well deserved victory.
BRIGHTON
Key Talking Point
When Shane Duffy was given his marching orders straight after Brighton opened the scoring, supporters would have been fearing the worst.
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Holding on for almost an hour in a match with a fierce rival and without one of your most reliable defenders on the pitch takes some doing, but Brighton did much more than just hold on.
They set out a game plan and stuck to it beautifully. They defended deep and countered effectively and in the end were well worth the three points.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Ryan (6); Montoya (6), Dunk (7), Duffy (2), Bernardo (7); Bissouma (6), Propper (7), Gross (6), March (6), Izquierdo (7); Murray (7).
Substitutes: Balogun (6), Andone (8*), Knockaert (7).
Star Man - Glenn Murray's injury may provide Andone with the opportunity to feature more regularly for Brighton in the coming weeks, especially as the Christmas period kicks into gear.
He took his goal superbly and he looks more than capable of leading the line for Chris Hughton's side. His mobility and strength can provide Brighton with a different sort of dynamic in the final third, meaning Brighton fans shouldn't be too concerned about Murray's injury.
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Worst Player - Duffy's red card wasn't just reckless, it was plain foolish.
There is no doubting Hughton will be having some very strong words with the experienced defender for unnecessarily getting himself sent off, only minutes after Brighton had taken the lead. He should have known much better.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Key Talking Point
Crystal Palace have been struggling in the final third all season but, after their successful assault on the Burnley goal last Saturday, they would have had their tails up coming into this one.
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However, Palace ended up putting in one of their worst performances of the season. It's difficult to say if they were tactically outsmarted or if the occasion simply got the better of them, but one thing is for certain. Roy Hodgson will not be happy.
Admittedly, the opening goal should not have been a penalty in the first place, but Palace can have no complaints about the eventual result.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Hennessey (5); Wan-Bissaka (4), Tomkins (4), Sakho (5), Van Aanholt (5); Kouyate (5), Milivojevic (6), McArthur (4), Meyer (5); Zaha (5), Townsend (4).
Substitutes: Sorloth (5), Schlupp (5).
Star Man - There wasn't a single impressive performance on show from Palace, but Milivojevic played reasonably well and ended up scoring so that counts for something.
It was by no means a performance that will go down in history, but there were no either viable candidates to be acknowledged for the Seagulls.
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Worst Player - Wan-Bissaka has proven himself to be an exciting prospect for the future but he wasn't at the races on this occasion.
The youngster failed to clear his lines before the opening penalty and was run ragged down the right flank all evening.
Looking Ahead
Both sides have short break before they are back in Premier League action on Saturday. Brighton travel to face Burnley, whilst Crystal Palace make the short trip across London to face West Ham.
