Report and highlights as Brighton win thrilling derby
Wednesday 5 December 2018 08:05, UK
Three goals in an incident-packed first half handed 10-man Brighton a 3-1 victory over rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday.
Glenn Murray fired the Seagulls ahead against his former club from the penalty spot on 24 minutes but that positive start was undone within four minutes by Shane Duffy's dismissal for a head-butt on Patrick van Aanholt.
But Leon Balogun, introduced to shore up the Brighton defence, doubled their lead with his first touch 25 seconds after coming on, before another substitute, Murray's replacement Florin Andone, made it three in first-half stoppage time.
Luka Milivojevic pulled one back from the penalty spot on 81 minutes but it was too little, too late for Palace, who failed to lay a glove on the 10 men of Brighton.
The victory lifts Chris Hughton's side up to 10th in the Premier League, nine points and five places clear of Palace, who drop to 15th.
Palace could not live with Brighton's intensity in the opening exchanges but created the first opening as Van Aanholt's cutback found Andros Townsend in the area, but he guided a header wide at the near post.
Brighton were contentiously awarded a penalty when referee Kevin Friend adjudged James McArthur to have tripped Jose Izquierdo. Replays showed the Palace midfielder made contact with the ball before the man, but the decision stood as Murray rifled his eighth goal of the season off the underside of the bar from 12 yards.
Murray was on the receiving end of a James Tomkins shoulder barge three minutes later. Referee Friend opted against pointing to the spot for the second time but, in the ensuing melee between the protesting players, he saw Duffy launch his head into the face of Van Aanholt, and showed no hesitation brandishing the red card.
Hughton sacrificed Pascal Gross as Balogun entered the fray but it proved to be an inspired substitution as the centre-back's rifled volley doubled Brighton's lead.
Murray succumbed to the shoulder injury he sustained from Tomkins' shoulder barge and Palace nearly compounded their misery as a Milivojevic shot was cleared off the line by Bernardo.
But Brighton stunned Palace in the fourth minute of time added on as Murray's replacement Andone chased a long ball, capitalised on hesitancy from Wayne Hennessey and a slip from Tomkins to rifle the 10 men into a three-goal lead with his second goal for the club.
With a man advantage and a three-goal deficit to overturn, the onus was on Palace to get back into the game against a Brighton outfit content attacking on the counter.
But few chances came their way and by the time Milivojevic had converted a penalty after Balogun brought Wilfried Zaha down in the area, the game was already out of reach for Palace.
Chris Hughton: "I thought we were outstanding. It's shame their penalty went in. You know a bad run can leave you four or five without a win. So to get two wins on the spin is big for us. We thoroughly deserved it."
Roy Hodgson: "We were disappointed by the penalty decision, but we hadn't been playing well. It's disappointing to concede from the corner and the third goal gave us a mountain to climb. The players gave it their best shot and kept going."
On a night when moments of mayhem were erupting all over the pitch, Brighton's calm and composed captain led his side to one of the sweetest victories they'll arguably have this season. Dunk dealt with the loss of his partner Duffy with consummate ease and guided a back four with little experience of playing together to a defensive display 11 players would have been proud of.
Brighton head to Burnley and Palace travel to West Ham in the Premier League at 3pm on Saturday.
