Brighton & Hove Albion recovered from Bart Verbruggen’s mishap to earn a Premier League (PL) point against rivals Crystal Palace, denying the Eagles a first Selhurst Park league victory since early September (D3, L4).
Despite extending their winless run to six PL games (D2, L4) last time out, Palace fans would have been delighted after securing a late point against champions Manchester City. This provided the Eagles with plenty of confidence as they hosted Brighton. The first period was characterised by neat passing play and long spells of possession, particularly from the visitors, who forced relatively comfortable saves from Dean Henderson via Simon Adingra and Pascal Groß.
However, after threatening on several occasions, including a passage of penalty-box pinball, it was the hosts who eventually broke the deadlock. Jan Paul van Hecke twice cleared inviting Michael Olise crosses earlier in the half, yet there was nothing he could do to stop Jordan Ayew nodding in Olise’s back-post delivery after Verbruggen was pressured into surrendering possession.
Having failed to keep a clean sheet for a 22nd consecutive PL game, Brighton were now in need of fresh attacking impetus, compelling Roberto De Zerbi to make a double change at the break. An improvement followed with Groß pulling the strings for his side, presenting João Pedro with an opening before teeing up Lewis Dunk’s wayward header.
Only Liverpool (18) have claimed more points from losing positions than Brighton (13) this season, and they continued to push for an equaliser, with Billy Gilmour’s first-time drive being pushed to safety minutes before Jack Hinshelwood skied a golden chance at the back post. Firmly on top in the second half, the away side finally drew level when Groß’s whipped ball was met by a looping header from substitute Danny Welbeck, setting up a grandstand finish at Selhurst Park.
Another goalkeeping calamity almost took place as this time Henderson misjudged the situation, punching the ball into an oblivious Welbeck to almost hand Brighton victory. Ultimately, there was nothing to separate the two sides as the visitors’ late goal earns them a point after a stunning run of 32 scoring fixtures came to an end last time out against Arsenal. A strike apiece means that it is now five successive H2H meetings in which under 2.5 goals have been scored, lifting Brighton to eighth in the table while Palace remain 15th.
