Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton: Nine-man Eagles soar to win feisty A23 derby as Eberechi Eze produces pair of assists

Crystal Palace had to wait a long old while to do the league double over Brighton. 

Since 1932, to be precise, when they were in the Third Division South. Even Roy Hodgson was 14 years from being born in Croydon, as if to underline the age it took them.

They could never have envisaged ending that 93-year wait in a manner as gloriously ludicrous as this. 

Daniel Munoz got the goal which won it in 55th minute, but this ‘A23 derby’ will be remembered better for being a second yellow showdown at Selhurst Park.

Palace finished it with nine players as Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guehi were shown their second cautions in the 78th and 90th minutes. Brighton then saw Jan Paul van Hecke dismissed in the sixth minute of stoppage time to end with 10 men themselves.

It was total carnage and, in truth, wasted as a non-televised fixture. Consider this a futile rivalry if you must, given the 50-mile gap between these clubs, but try telling that to the Selhurst roar at full-time, or to Dean Henderson as he let loose, or to Jean-Philippe Mateta as he sprinted from the substitutes’ bench and on to the pitch in order to celebrate.

Mateta had scored the opener for Palace before Danny Welbeck equalised. Munoz’s strike was a nice one as Eberechi Eze secured his second assist, but my word, what a finish we witnessed.

It started so serene, too. 

‘Welcome to the home of the FA Cup semi-finalists,’ the chap over the tannoy announced as the teams emerged from the tunnel. 

It was a cheeky reminder that Palace won their quarter-final last Saturday whereas Brighton lost to miss out on a trip to Wembley.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side had eyes on Europe instead, entering this clash sitting eighth in the Premier League, and yet it took them a few moments to turn up in this A23 derby. By the time the visitors realised they could compete, too, they were already trailing 1-0.

Mateta had already fooled Selhurst into thinking he had scored when he struck the side-netting on the turn after a smart run. No matter, as Palace’s striker nabbed the opener for real after 139 seconds when he was on the move yet again.

It started with Guehi charging from his own half with the ball as he then laid it to Eze. He played in Mateta and this time with his left foot, he struck sweetly beyond Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to secure an early lead. Mateta, with his shirt tucked in and sporting that protective headgear, celebrated with his trademark kicking of the corner flag.

Only the fingertips of Verbruggen stopped Palace from scoring another when his goalkeeping counterpart Henderson launched a long ball into the final third for Eze to chase. He controlled it, used snake hips to turn inside then out, and so nearly found the far corner.

It was then that Brighton arrived with Carlos Baleba’s 25-yard strike shoved away by Henderson in the 13th minute. Danny Welbeck raced on to the rebound, but Palace’s goalkeeper stopped him, too, with England manager Thomas Tuchel also spending his Saturday at Selhurst.

After 27 minutes, Brighton team-mates Jack Hinshelwood and Yankuba Minteh engaged in an argument after a communication breakdown on the right-hand side. But in the 31st, they were back to being friends as both were involved in it becoming 1-1.

The ball made its way from Hinshelwood to Matt O’Riley to Minteh, who crossed as Welbeck got in front of Munoz to toe it in. Brighton had drawn their last five trips to Palace in the Premier League, so perhaps there was an inevitability that they would come back at some stage.

But in the 55th minute came confirmation that this fixture, at long last, would not finish one goal apiece. Eze drove at Brighton’s defence before teeing up Munoz, whose shot swerved enough with the help of a deflection from Pervis Estupinan to squeeze beyond Verbruggen for 2-1.

In the 68th minute, Nketiah was introduced for Mateta. In the 69th, he was booked for diving while trying to win a penalty from Estupinan.

In the 78th minute arrived his second yellow, as Nketiah stuck up a high boot in a bid to control the ball. He caught Van Hecke in the head. 

Referee Anthony Taylor only had to listen to the audible gasps from even the home fans to know it was worthy of a caution, as Nketiah apologised to the supporters for his 10 minutes of madness while trudging towards the tunnel.

It got worse for Palace when, as 12 minutes of stoppage time were announced, Guehi was shown his own second yellow for planting his studs into the thigh of Brighton substitute Brajan Gruda. He had received his first caution for clumsily chopping down Van Hecke.

It was then in the sixth minute of stoppage time that Van Hecke tripped Daichi Kamada while breaking behind. He too was already on a yellow and started walking to the tunnel. He knew his day was done before Taylor had even reached the red out of his pocket.

And so, the nine players of Palace held on to defeat the 10 men of Brighton. Got your breath back yet? Good.