‘You can’t buy these moments’ – Oliver Glasner hails Crystal Palace squad after being reduced to nine players in 2-1 win over rivals Brighton

Crystal Palace were reduced to nine men as they recorded a league double over rivals Brighton for the first time since 1933 with a 2-1 win on Saturday.

The Eagles took the lead after just three minutes at Selhurst Park. Marc Guehi drove forward and found Eberechi Eze just inside the Brighton half. 

England international Eze played through Jean-Philippe Mateta to strike a sweet left-footed shot past Bart Verbruggen.

Eze then went close to adding his own and doubling Palace’s advantage when he collected a long ball downfield and dribbled past Jan Paul van Hecke, only to see his low effort whistle past the post.

The visitors equalised in the 31st minute through Danny Welbeck, who netted his eighth of the season with a perfectly-timed run to finish off Yakuba Minteh’s cross.

Palace retook the lead in the 54th minute when Eze drove forward to find the arriving Daniel Munoz. The Colombian hit a first-time strike into the bottom corner to put Glasner’s side back ahead.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men when substitute Eddie Nketiah was issued with a second yellow card in the 78th minute.

Palace then went down to nine players in the 90th minute when Marc Guehi was handed his second yellow card of the game for a foul on Brajan Gruda.

Glanser was forced to play Sarr and Kamada as wing-backs, with Jefferson Lerma, Munoz and Ben Chilwell playing at centre-back.

Brighton were issued a red card of their own in second-half stoppage time when van Hecke stopped Kamada from advancing towards goal when the Japanese midfielder had taken the ball beyond the Dutch defender, who was the last man. 

Palace saw out the game and completed a historic league double to move five points away from the traditional European spots.

“I have been in football for more than 30 years, but this is the nearest one,” said Glasner when asked if he had ever been involved in a game with so many talking points.

“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.

“We always stayed in the game. We adjusted one or two things in our tactics and the players did so well.

“It was unbelievable. What I loved most was that when you had to defend nine against 11, you would very often not come out of your box.

“But we waited for the situation and got the transition, with Daichi one-on-one against the keeper. We forced them to concede a red card.

“We defended with a lot of passion and heart, but we always waited for our moment to go forward.

“This mindset, togetherness and spirit, everyone could see. Maxence and JP celebrated on the pitch, but the game was not over – we thought that maybe we would be playing until sunset.

“This spirit is unbelievable. The character of this group and players is really good.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD