Brighton vs Crystal Palace: The Seagulls and Eagles will take their point, but both will be frustrated by the 1-1 final score at the Amex Stadium on Friday.
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Brighton were far and away the better side, but they trailed 1-0 into the final five minutes of the game after Conor Gallagher hammered home a sensational strike in the 69th minute, but Joachim Andersen poked the ball past Jack Butland, who had an impressive performance of his own, for the equalizing own goal in the 87th.
The result sees Crystal Palace (24 points) climb one place in the Premier League table, to 11th, while Brighton do the same, into 8th.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace final score, stats, results
Final score: Brighton 1, Crystal Palace 1
Goal scorers: Brighton (Andersen 87' - OG), Crystal Palace (Callagher 69')
Shots: Brighton 19, Crystal Palace 3
Shots on target: Brighton 4, Crystal Palace 1
Possession: Brighton 64%, Crystal Palace 36%
3 things we learned - Brighton vs Crystal Palace
1. Brighton impose their will: Brighton and Crystal Palace are quite similar to one another, in that they typically are able to dictate the conditions of play to opponents on level footing or below them in the Premier League hierarchy. Only one could do so with the sides facing off head-to-head, and Brighton were massively dominant in any number of ways. The only thing missing was, predictably for the Seagulls, the act of (fairly) putting the ball over the goal line when they create plenty of high-quality scoring chances. It’s a shame their brilliant football is rewarded with more goals and points more frequently.
2. Crystal Palace resilient and defiant: The results haven’t always been there this season, but Crystal Palace have looked like a side making massive strides forward each and every time they take the field. The Eagles were quite poor defensively early in the season, not long after Patrick Vieira took over, but they were an organized bunch moving in lockstep for the majority of the derby. Joachim Andersen’s recent return from injury has provided a huge lift to the group in the back, even if he was charged with the own goal on Friday.
3. Fair result in the end: Brighton have drawn plenty of games they should have won and lost a good few they maybe could’ve drawn, but rarely do they drop three points when they should have taken all of them. Despite all of their frustrating failures in front of goal, a defeat would have been terribly unfair — even if they didn’t score their own goal.
Man of the Match: Connor Gallagher - Bright moments were few and far between for Crystal Palace, but Gallagher made sure that his will be watched again and again in the coming days and weeks.
Brighton vs Crystal Palace highlights
Jack Butland saves (Pascal) Gross penalty late in 1st half (video)
After a fairly lengthy video review, Will Hughes was deemed to have wrestled Joel Veltman to the ground on a corner kick, but Jack Butland marked his return to the Premier League by denying the spot kick.
Neal Maupay goal disallowed after Butland fouled in goalmouth (video)
The ensuing free kick turned into a six-yard-box scramble with Neal Maupay poking the ball over the line at the end of it. This time, though, video review went agains Brighton, as Maupay clearly kicked the ball out of Butland’s two hands firmly on the ball — a textbook foul by the Frenchman.
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Conor Gallagher takes volley with exceptional skill for 1-0 lead (goal video)
Despite all of the possession and scoring chances at one end and precious few at the other, Gallagher was razor sharp when his decisive moment arrived on 69 minutes. The first touch sets up the bounce, the timing sets up the volley, and the volley leaves no doubt.
Joachim Andersen puts the ball in his own net to make it 1-1 (goal video)
It would have been a stellar smash-and-grab by Crystal Palace, but it wasn’t to be.