Brighton v C Palace
Play By Play
The full-time whistle goes at the AMEX, as Brighton humiliate rivals Palace 5-0! The hosts raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening 10 minutes. The first was an own goal, when Canvot failed to head clear from Gross’ wicked delivery. Gomez then scored one of the goals of the season, as he beat Benitez with a pinged effort from the halfway line! The third was scored by Ayari, who buried a first-time effort courtesy of a deflection. That was it for the first half, but they came out in the second fast, with Kostoulas scoring in the 49th minute. The ball fell kindly for the young striker, who still had to stay composed to beat Benitez from close range. The five-star performance was capped off with a fifth goal from the returning Hinshelwood, who simply couldn’t miss from a yard out. The hosts ended the afternoon with an expected goals of 1.98, whilst the visitors could only muster up 0.75 xG. Brighton are up to second for now, and face Liverpool away next up. For Palace, they drop to 14th place and will need to shake off this loss quickly ahead of hosting Newcastle next week. What an incredible afternoon for Brighton! Thank you all for tuning in and have a great afternoon!
FULL-TIME: BRIGHTON 5-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
Just under two minutes to go now. The Brighton fans do not want this to end, whilst the Palace ones wanted it done after 10 minutes.
There will be a minimum of four minutes of added time.
The final Brighton change sees the legendary Dunk make way for Svoboda.
The Brighton fans are chanting “we want six” as they have another corner. They are in dreamland this afternoon. They almost do a repeat of their fifth goal, as Dunk is found around the back, but this time a Palace body gets it clear.
Brighton have got the life in them to search for more goals. Palace need to sit in and hope this doesn't get any worse. It is already embarrassing enough for the London side.
GOAL! HINSHELWOOD ON HIS RETURN! IT IS FIVE! Brighton play a clever corner routine to the back post, finding the man-mountain Vuskovic. He heads back across goal from the awkward angle, which Benitez parries straight to Hinshelwood, who can tap home from a yard out. 5-0!
The second of the double change sees Yalcouye, who is perhaps unlucky not to have started today, make way for Ayari.
Boscagli, who hasn't put a foot wrong in the game, is off for Hadjam.
The final Palace change sees Hughes introduced, as Kamada makes way.
It looks like we will see some more changes the next time the ball goes out of play, with both managers readying up fresh legs.
Vuskovic has contested (16) and won (11) more duels than any other player in this match. He has been absolutely immense for the hosts, who pretty much swapped him for Jan Paul van Hecke in the summer.
OFF THE POST! Palace come close to getting a goal, as Lerma gets up well from the corner, but his header flicks off the outside of the post.
Kostoulas ends his afternoon with a goal and an assist to his name, as Rutter comes on in his place.
Now Hurzeler looks to his bench. Gross, who has been brilliant, makes way for Hinshelwood’s Premier League return.
A moment to completely sum up Palace’s afternoon, as Lerma completely scuffs his clearance, giving Brighton a cheap corner.
The Brighton players and crowd are frustrated as Canvot once again escapes a booking. It is twice now that he has fouled a Brighton man nowhere near the ball.
Things just boiled over for a minute. One of the Palace coaching staff had to be dragged back by one of his own, clearly frustrated with something said.
Andres is booked for Brighton, after Kamada rolls the midfielder and is then clipped.
MATETA HITS THE BAR! Biggest chance of the match for Palace. They break through well and it ends with Mateta having a free shot from the centre of the box. He goes for it first-time, but he crashes the crossbar from close range!
The second change sees Pino make way, as Nketiah is on.
Sage makes a double change for Palace. Strand Larsen comes off for Mateta in a straight swap up front.
The confidence is flying for the Brighton players. Vuskovic picks up a loose ball on the edge of the box and attempts to bend an effort into the top-right corner. He fails to find the target, with his curling shot going over the bar.
Brighton will move to second if they win here, and they should be dreaming of Champions League qualification. Opta now give them a 57.20% chance of Champions League, and a 5.97% chance of the title...
