Palace Maupay The Price

In this searing A23 derby; both teams went all out for the jugular; but in the end had to be content for a 1-1 draw. Brighton & Hove Albion were riding high; with a victory taking them to the top of the Premiership; but Crystal Palace had other ideas; pressing them high up to prevent Brighton from playing their smooth passing game & making them uncomfortable as a result. With their front three not particularly adept to the long ball situation; you could say Brighton were slightly caught in a one-dimensional affair.

Conor Gallagher has been really impressive so far this season; with his energetic performances catching the eye; and it was he who surged into the Brighton half to win a last-gasp penalty right on the stroke of half-time. It was indeed an unnecessary shove from Leandro Trossard that even brought some antagonism from his own team-mates; a striker's challenge shall we say lol.

And even though Brighton made a successful switch in the second half to a more expansive 4-3-3; it seemed like Palace more or less managed to ride it out for what would have been a priceless 2nd victory of the season. Alas; in the final minute of stoppage time; goalkeeper Vicente Guaita; who had a good game otherwise; played a terrible free-kick into the centre of the pitch when an almighty boot to Christian Benteke was what was needed; leading to Joel Veltman playing a through ball for Neal Maupay to equalise in a flash.

Mr Instigator Supreme wasted no time in playing up to the terraces; leading to an altercation with Wilfried Zaha before a final-whistle dust-up between James McArthur & Roberto Sanchez that threatened to spill over. Even as the teams were heading to the locker room; the drama was not over yet as the incensed Palace fans seemed to be berating the Brighton players; leading to some of them egging them to conflict. It was indeed a tempestuous affair.