Beware the Ides of March. Solly March that is. On the eve of Gareth Southgate naming his England squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, the 28-year-old’s seventh goal of the season finally ended Brighton’s four-year wait for a victory against their bitter rivals to leave Crystal Palace still winless in 2023 and hovering precariously close to the relegation zone.
From the moment that Patrick Vieira was forced to hand teenager Joe Whitworth his debut in goal, the Palace manager may have suspected it wasn’t going to be his evening. But while Whitworth pulled off several excellent saves to keep the visitors in with a fighting chance until the end, there was no hiding the growing chasm between them and Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Brighton now find themselves level on points with Liverpool in sixth place and with a game in hand on a day that also saw Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s horse Energumene retain the Queen Mother Champion Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival. “I’m really happy for him but I think he prefers football,” admitted a delighted De Zerbi, whose side face League Two side Grimsby in the FA Cup quarter-finals here on Sunday. “It was great to get this win for him and the fans.”
Palace have spent the last 73 days in 12th spot, but are now only three points clear of the bottom three and with a trip to face leaders Arsenal on Sunday. Vieira acknowledged that he is under real pressure for the first time since succeeding Roy Hodgson in July 2021. “When you look at the character of the players then it doesn’t look like a team that is in trouble. But not taking our chances let us down,” he said.
Asked whether he still retains the faith of Palace chairman Steve Parish, Vieira added: “You will have to ask those questions to them. I can’t answer for them.”
The Palace manager insisted this week that they had been working hard on becoming “more ruthless” in front of goal, having become the first Premier League team in 20 years to have failed to register a shot on target in three successive matches. At least there were some signs of progress in attack here as that unwanted statistic was brought to an end inside the opening minute. Wilfried Zaha called Jason Steele into action at his near post early on, but Palace still wasted several chances that could have earned them a point had they been more clinical.
The visitors’ hopes of extending a seven-match unbeaten streak against Brighton had certainly not been helped by the absence of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita due to a hamstring injury, with Whitworth – who only turned 19 at the end of February – becoming the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Premier League game since Sunderland’s Ben Alnwick in December 2005. “He has been a ball boy at the stadium and is a true Palace fan. It is a big day for him,” acknowledged Vieira beforehand.
Whitworth’s first taste of the action after Odsonne Édouard had squandered a golden chance with a header from Michael Olise’s cross was to rush 40 yards out of his goal to clear a promising Brighton attack. But he could do nothing to stop March’s accurate shot from the edge of the area in the 15th minute when Kaoru Mitoma played him in after the Japan winger had left Nathaniel Clyne trailing.
March spent two years in Palace’s youth academy between the ages of 11 and 13 but he is now approaching 250 appearances for Brighton and was tipped for an England call-up by De Zerbi when Southgate announces his squad on Thursday. On this evidence, the national team manager could do much worse.
Only Édouard will know how he failed to make more of a great opportunity to equalise for Palace when he was played through 10 minutes before the break. But Cheick Doucouré could consider himself fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card for bringing down Moisés Caicedo and then March as Brighton pressed forward in search of a second.
The Mali midfielder was withdrawn for the second half in a wise move from Vieira, although there was not much else he could do to stem the tide. Mitoma was inches away from connecting with March’s cross before Whitworth denied Pervis Estupiñán with a save at his near post. A short delay when the stadium lights briefly went out finally gave Palace’s defenders some respite, although it didn’t last long.
An outstanding save from Whitworth to deny Alexis Mac Allister from a corner was the closest Brighton came to adding some deserved gloss to their victory. March left the pitch to a standing ovation and substitute Naouirou Ahamada wasted a great chance to equalise in nine minutes of added time. Having waited since March 2019 to get one over Palace, the final whistle was celebrated deep into the Sussex night.
