The lowdown on Crystal Palace 2 Brighton 1 – Eagles record league double over rivals as Nketiah and Guehi see red in chaotic last period

Nine men Crystal Palace saw out a 2-1 win over Brighton at Selhurst Park to record a league double over their arch rivals for the first time since 1933.

Here is the lowdown from the game:

THE LINE-UPS

Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Lerma, Lacroix (Ward 90), Guehi, Mitchell (Chilwell 63), Kamada, Wharton (Hughes 82), Eze (Devenny 82), Sarr, Mateta (Nketiah 82).

Subs not used: Turner, Clyne, Franca, Esse.

Brighton: Verbruggen, Hinshelwood (Wieffer 93), van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan (Ayari 81), Gomez (Gruda 72), Baleba, Minteh (March 72), O’Riley, Mitoma (Adingra 63), Welbeck (Pedro 63).

Subs not used: Rushworth, Cashin, Tasker.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

The Eagles took the lead after just three minutes. Marc Guehi drove forward and found Eberechi Eze. Greenwich’s Eze played through Mateta, who struck a sweet left-footed shot over Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton had the opportunity to leave in the 13th minute, with Carlos Baleba testing Dean Henderson from distance, with the stopper up quickly to deny Danny Welbeck on the rebound.

The Seagulls equalised just after the half-hour mark when Yankuba Minteh swung in an inch-perfect cross with his left foot and Welbeck arrived in the box to steer the ball beyond Henderson.

Glasner and his coaching staff wanted Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma to see red at the start of the second half for a late foul on Maxence Lacroix, but referee Anthony Taylor and VAR referee Craig Pawson did not deem the foul worthy of reducing the visitors to 10 men.

Minutes later, Palace retook the lead when Daniel Munoz collected Eze’s pass on the edge of the box and buried a right-footed strike back across Verbruggen and into the bottom corner.

Substitute Eddie Nketiah was sent off in the 78th minute for a second yellow card offence, with Guehi seeing red with a second yellow in the 90th minute.

Van Hecke was sent off for a second yellow card in added time, but Palace saw out the game to record a league double over their rivals.

TACTICAL APPROACH

Glanser used the same approach he had used throughout his time at Palace, with Kamada lining up in the centre of midfield alongside Wharton and Lerma moving to centre-back to cope with Chris Richards’ injury.

The Eagles coped well with Brighton’s athletic midfield of Baleba and Diego Gomez, with Kamada and Wharton both having time and space on the ball in the early period of the game.

Brighton defended in a flat five out of possession to try and stop the impact of Palace’s wing-backs early on.

As the game went on, Eze had more space to exploit and Glasner brought Ben Chilwell on to strengthen their attacking power down the left-hand side.

Glasner pushed Sarr through the middle and introduced Will Hughes and Justin Devenny to beef up the midfield after Nketiah’s red card.

Palace were reduced to nine men in the 90th minute, with Guehi seeing red, with Glasner playing Kamada and Sarr as wing-backs. 

Chilwell, Joel Ward and Lerma formed the back three to see out the game. 

STAR MAN

Eze. The former QPR attacker is coming into his own in this final stage of the season.

After a special goal at Fulham in the FA Cup last Saturday, he added two assists to his season’s goal contributions against the Seagulls.

He could have had a hat-trick of assists if he had spotted Ismaila Sarr making a darting run through the middle of the pitch instead of playing through Tyrick Mitchell in the 60th minute.

With England boss Thomas Tuchel in the stands, Eze certainly did his chances of making the former Chelsea boss’ squad again in the future no harm.

BEST MOMENT 

The full-time whistle. 

After defending a bombardment of attack after attack for the final passage of the game, when referee Anthony Taylor blew up for full time, Selhurst Park burst into raptures.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Nketiah’s contribution. 

The former Arsenal man had the opportunity to seal the game in the 69th minute when he arrived onto a clearance away from a Munoz cross along the face of goal.

Nketiah looked to have beaten Pervis Estupinan to the ball and had a clear sight of Verbruggen’s goal, but went down under pressure from the Ecuadorian defender.

Anthony Taylor correctly booked the Lewisham-born striker.

He was then shown a second yellow nine minutes later and handed his marching orders in the 78th minute for a high foot on van Hecke just inside Brighton’s half.

It was a moment which sparked a wild last passage of the game, with two more red cards to follow and 12 minutes of added time.

TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB

What a week for the Eagles.

If you had offered any Palace fan a place in the FA Cup semi final, a late point away from home in a 1-1 draw at Southampton in a below-par performance and a 2-1 win with nine men against arch-rivals Brighton all in the space of seven days, you would been hard pressed to find any one inside Selhurst Park who would have said no.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“With all the dramatic situations and the circumstances today, it’s a massive win.

“I’m really exhausted. There was so much going on and the atmosphere at the end in the stadium.

“The fighting spirit of this team, with the togetherness of our fans, is great to experience.

“You can’t buy these moments – you have to experience them and be a part of them.

“The last months have been pretty good, but it’s not the end. It’s been a great week, starting with the win at Fulham in the FA Cup and we fought to get the point at Southampton.

“Today, I’m always thinking about how a game can go or what could happen. You can always get one red card, but I never think we can concede two.

“But then you have to deal with the situation and the players dealt amazingly with this.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD