That’s me done. I’m off for a tea and a mince pie. Thanks for reading and for your emails. Until next time!
Match report
Ed Aarons was at Selhurst Park.
This is where that result leaves the two teams.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 17 | 20 | 39 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 17 | 21 | 38 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 17 | 16 | 38 |
| 4 | Man City | 17 | 20 | 34 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 12 | 33 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 17 | 15 | 29 |
| 7 | Man Utd | 17 | -3 | 28 |
| 8 | Brighton | 18 | 3 | 27 |
| 9 | West Ham | 17 | -1 | 27 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 17 | 2 | 22 |
| 11 | Fulham | 17 | -3 | 21 |
| 12 | Brentford | 17 | 0 | 19 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 17 | -8 | 19 |
| 14 | AFC Bournemouth | 16 | -9 | 19 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 18 | -8 | 18 |
| 16 | Everton | 17 | 2 | 16 |
| 17 | Nottm Forest | 17 | -13 | 14 |
| 18 | Luton | 16 | -15 | 9 |
| 19 | Burnley | 17 | -20 | 8 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 17 | -31 | 8 |
Full-time: Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton
All square. Palace breathe a sigh of relief.
94 min: Palace have 11 players behind the ball, hanging on for their point.
92 min: After 10 minutes of clumsy play, Palace regain a bit of composure and enjoy a bit of much-needed possession. Dunk does well to see off Olise after a dangerous through ball.
90 min: Five minutes added on at an anxious Selhurst Park.
89 min: Twice Brighton go close! João Pedro has a goalbound shot blocked by Andersen on the edge of Palace’s box, before another (bizarre) chance for Brighton. Henderson comes out to clear a looping through ball, but the home keeper punches the ball against the head of the onrushing Welbeck. The ball cannons off Welbeck’s face, and rolls tantalisingly wide of the open Palace goal.
87 min: Guehi is a lucky boy. The England centre back attempted to shepherd the ball out of play but it didn’t have the required pace to go out for a goal kick. Moder steps in to nick the ball but is adjudged to have fouled the Palace defender! Never a foul. Moder won the ball fairly inside the area, and Brighton nearly had tap in!
Updated
85 min: Mitoma is withdrawn, injured. He got a knock in that penalty box tangle a few minutes ago. Moder comes on for Brighton.
84 min: Eze has had a couple of chances since coming on, but it’s Brighton that look much more likely to nick a winner now.
Updated
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton (Welbeck 82)
A goal out of nothing! Gross sends a hopeful ball into the box. Welbeck, standing on the penalty spot, is well marked by Richards but the former England striker loops a header into the top corner. He had no right to do that from where he was. But Henderson couldn’t reach it! Postage stamp stuff.
Updated
80 min: Mitoma goes down in the box. Brighton claim for a penalty, but it looked more like the Japanese winger lost his balance and crumpled in a heap. Mitoma does look hurt though. He’s limping.
77 min: Apparently buoyed by my words of encouragement, Mateta deliciously drops a shoulder to send Dunk to the shops, drives forward. Palace have a man over, and it’s Eze! But the Palace man cuts back inside, allowing Van Hecke to recover, and the Brighton defender makes a magnificent block!
75 min: Palace fans, is Mateta really good? I know he’s a bit good, but is he really good? Because he’s well again this evening.
73 min: Lallana comes on for Hinshelwood.
70 min: “So much has been written about De Zerbi’s cutting edge style of play, however I see an experienced Mr Hodgson is doing just fine. Reminds me of a line from the Bible: there is nothing new under the sun.”
Hodgson, feeling presumably enlightened, brings on Eze for Jordan Ayew.
Solid shift, Jordan 👏👏#CPFC | #CRYBHA pic.twitter.com/iphjHoH0Ja
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 21, 2023
Re the above tweet, can I just flag how much I despise this habit of clubs/pundits/journalists/anyone (save perhaps for fans) referring to players by just their first names.
69 min: Palace clinging on here a bit. More mayhem in the box as Henderson comes from a cross, flaps a bit, loses the ball to a scrum of bodies, before said scrum blocks a shot from Van Hecke. Brighton getting closer.
Updated
67 min: Another chance for the visitors! Gross gets to the byline, flashes a low cross across the Palace goal but Hinshelwood skews his finish into the stand! A terrible finish. It’s true the young right back was under pressure but he really should have hit the target. And he knows it.
65 min: Back come Brighton. They are the dominant side now. Buonanotte and Gilmour both pepper the Palace goal, with the latter drawing an excellent save from Henderson, down low to his left.
63 min: Only Liverpool have earned more points from losing positions this season than Brighton (12).
61 min: This game is there for both sides. Buonanotte has looked lively since coming on, and fed Mitoma nicely a couple of minutes ago, but the Japanese’s shot was a weak one.
59 min: Palace make a sub: Ozoh on for Hughes, who had been booked. A huge cheer goes up from the home side. Ozoh is very popular and made a good impression against City last time out.
57 min: Another booking. Igor the latest to be cautioned after clipping Olise.
55 min: Brighton really heating up now. This game has come to life. The vistors move forward with all the guile and finesse of Alan Pardew at a south London disco, slick football that ends with Welbeck backheeling to Hinshelwood. The teenager goes down in the box, but replays show that he scuffed his shot rather than being fouled. Brighton protest but VAR waves play on.
Updated
53 min: Another yellow for Palace, as Mitchell and Richards sandwich Buonanotte to stop another dangerous counter-attack. From the free-kick, Brighton have their best chance of the match! Dunk rises above Andersen but plants his header just a few inches wide of the far post! Henderson was rooted to the spot!
Updated
51 min: Mateta outmuscles Dunk, which is quite the achievement, and nearly beats Verbruggen to a bouncing ball. The Brighton keeper gets something to block Mateta’s toe-poke and is fortunate to collect the rebound. Verbruggen nearly slid out of his box!
50 min: From a Brighton corner, Welbeck heads at goal but Ayew gets in the way. He didn’t know much about it! You wouldn’t call it a goal-line clearance but that was definitely an important block!
49 min: Yellow for Hughes, who catches Gross in midfield when Brighton were breaking dangerously. A cynical one.
47 min: Palace start the stronger. A corner is cleared and then the home side have a penalty shout as Gross holds onto Hughes in the box. It’s probably clever defending, rather than a foul. Not what the home fans think, of course.
Peeeeeeep! We’re off against at Selhurst Park.
De Zerbi makes two changes at half-time. The Brighton manager is not messing around.
Welbeck and Buonanotte are on. Adingra and Baleba off.
Have to say that Adingra had absolutely no joy against Mitchell in the right half. Defensive masterclass from the Palace left back.
Half-time reading. No Palace players, unfortunately but one Brighton player features on our list. Click to find out who.
Half-time: Crystal Palace 1-0 Brighton
Just Ayew’s second goal of the season. He’s not prolific, but Palace fans really rate the Ghanaian, and have another reason to love him here.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Brighton (Ayew 45)
Palace are ahead! Verbruggen loses the ball, Hughes and Olise pounce on the loose ball and the latter puts in a beautiful cross to the back post. Brighton, having lost the ball in their area, are all at sea defensively, scrambling to get back. Ayew ghosts in and has a simple header at the back post. The home side lead!
Updated
41 min: An important update. Pascal Gross is very, very good. He just always picks the right pass. Such a clever player, you can see why he is in the Germany squad these days. For Brighton he sort of operates as an inverted De Bruyne, in the deep half spaces on the left wing, firing inswinging crosses towards the back post, just as De Bruyne does from the right flank.
39 min: Gross goes close! The German zings one from long range, but Henderson beats it away. That was moving all over the shop but the English keeper watched it well.
37 min: “Could ‘Igor’ be the bulkiest, beefiest, most behemoth-sounding name for a Brazilian footballer since ‘Hulk’?” emails Peter Oh.
It’s certainly a decent shout. I would suggest Allan, but that’s probably just because he sounds like a hefty Scottish bloke.
35 min: Palace’s best spell of the game by far! Ayew finds some space on the left, crosses low and only a Van Hecke blow stops a goalbound Mateta shot! Gilmour is next to throw himself in front of a shot, before Baleba completes a defensive hat-trick, as Hughes bombards the Brighton goal.
33 min: From the corner, the ball bounces around Brighton’s six-yard box and pops up off Ayew into the hands of Verbruggen. Could have gone anywhere, that!
32 min: It’s a poor delivery although Olise gets another chance to swing it in with his right, and Van Hecke strains his neck to just divert the ball out for a corner! The Brighton defender had a similar glancing header at Arsenal, remember, which put the ball on a plate for Gabriel Jesus at the back post. But it’s good defending here.
31 min: Now a booking for Baleba, who rather clumsily bundles into Hughes on the edge of Brighton’s area. It’s in a really dangerous area on the left, and unusually Palace opt for a left-footer to take it, Olise, rather than an inswinger.
29 min: Yellow card for Mateta, who stupidly kicks the ball away to stop a quick Brighton free kick.
28 min: An absolutely filthy bit of skill from Olise, who brings the ball out of the south London sky and then nutmegs Mitoma, silkily rolling his studs over the ball. A slow-mo replay shows that Olise definitely meant it. Expect to see that one on your social media feed soon.
27 min: Mateta, who has been so isolated, takes range from 25 yards. But Verbruggen is well placed and doesn’t even need to dive to save the shot, which had some sting but wasn’t in either corner.
23 min: Mitoma isolates Clyne for the first time on Brighton’s left wing, but the former Liverpool full-back does well to get a foot in and stop Brighton’s attack. Palace surge forward and Olise has his opportunity to go at Igor, but again the defender comes out on top. It’s been a sticky first half thus far.
21 min: Palace can’t get anything going. A good stat from Sky: the home side have made just three successful passes in the final third so far. Brighton have made 33 passes.
19 min: Henderson makes the first save! Igor plays a brilliant long pass to Hinshelwood, who pops up at centre forward. The 18-year-old leaves it to Adingra, who stings the palms of the Palace goalkeeper from an angle. The ball comes out to Gross, but Hughes nips in to deny the German from converting the rebound. Baleba tries his luck, but it’s well wide. Signs of life from Brighton.
17 min: An email from someone who has asked to remain nameless.
“I’ve lived in Crystal Palace and now reside in Brighton but support neither. It’s undoubtedly the stupidest, most contrived, puerile, synthetic, childish football rivalry one could see. There’s no socio-economic, religious, or cultural divide here. Sid Lowe will not write a book about its underlying causes. But I realised today that I don’t just loathe it for its stupidity, for the baying fools singing idiotic bile to an atonal approximation of Sloop John B. I also loathe because it reveals that all these rivalries are actually stupid, puerile, childish etc. it’s a Potemkin village of a rivalry: so obviously fake, that it reveals the tedious, tendentious, hunting-for-a-grudge stupidity of most of these rivalries. I hope they both lose.”
15 min: I would loosely describe Brighton’s formation as 3-2-4-1. Gilmour and Baleba sitting deep in midfield to help the back three, with Hinshelwood (right) and Mitoma working overtime to get up and down the flank. But what that does mean is that there is room for Palace’s wingers, especially on the counter attack. Olise was in oceans of space just there but that cross was terrible.
13 min: Chance! Palace find some space and release Olise down the right, but the Frenchman’s poor low cross is behind Mateta, who had stolen a march on his markers in sprinting into the box.
11 min: The game is very tight, nobody has had the time to really get their head up. Similar to when you play six-a-side on a five-a-side pitch. No wall passes here though, of course.
9 min: Both sides feeling each other out. There has been no big chance thus far.
7 min: Brighton beat the Palace press, something they struggled to do against Arsenal. That was mainly down to the Gunners, though. They were so intelligent and disciplined out of possession.
5 min: Gross screws a shot wide. There are appeals for a corner, but goal kick given. Think it was probably a corner, in fairness.
4 min: Does feel like Brighton are playing with a three-man defence (Igor-Dunk-Van Hecke) in possession and a five-man defence when Palace have the ball.
2 min: Palace playing a very high line as they attempt to press Brighton. João Pedro turns neatly in midfield and has an opportunity to play a through pass to Gross, but the pass is wayward.
Peeeeeeeep! And we’re away in south London.
The teams are out! Selhurst Park is rocking. Palace in their red and blue halves. Brighton in their green/black shirt with white shorts and socks. It’s not the prettiest away kit.
Brighton last won at Selhurst Park back in 2019, when a certain Anthony Knockaert scored this ridiculous winner in a 2-1 victory. It (obviously) won goal of the month.
😅 Go on then, have it again!#AlbionGoalsWC
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) April 10, 2020
🏆 @SnickersUKcom 🏆#BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/HDj0o1AGuY
This, from the City-Palace game, is gold.
Roy Hodgson's reaction 😅 @CPFC pic.twitter.com/df9h0GEh5P
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 19, 2023
This, from David Squires, is also worth a read.
I have been hugely impressed by Igor Julio, Brighton’s Brazilian centre back, since his £15m move from Fiorentina in the summer. Comfortable on the ball, which is a requirement under De Zerbi, but also his positional sense, physicality and bravery have really stood out.
However, Brighton haven’t kept a clean sheet in 21 games, only the bottom three have a worse defensive record. And Brighton’s defence tonight is somewhat makeshift. Igor is a centre-back, playing at left back. Hinshelwood is naturally a midfielder, but looks like he’s playing right back. So some encouragement for Palace.
Updated
There has been some high drama in the Women’s Champions League. You can get the latest here, with Sarah Rendell.
A very strong Brighton side, who have the luxury of Evan Ferguson on the bench. Palace also have some firepower in reserve, with Eberechi Eze again warming the bench as he comes back from injury. He only managed a couple of minutes against City, but is the heartbeat of Roy Hodgson’s side. Jordan Ayew is available after his suspension, owing to his red card against Liverpool.
Palace manager Roy Hodgson has spoken on his decision not to start Eze.
He is such an important player, it’s always a temptation [to start him], but the feeling among everyone including himself is that he is not 100%. If we were struggling in midfield we might throw him in, but as is he’s a good one to have on the bench.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has spoken to Sky Sports on his decision to start João Pedro ahead of Ferguson.
He is improving, becoming a great player. The last month, his improvement is fantastic, his mentality and attitude, he is becoming an important player.
Updated
The teams!
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Richards, Hughes, Olise, Mateta, Ayew.
Subs: Tomkins, Eze, Matheus Franca, Schlupp, Ebiowei, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Ozoh.
Brighton: Verbruggen, Hinshelwood, van Hecke, Dunk, Igor, Baleba, Gilmour, Adingra, Gross, Mitoma, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Milner, Dahoud, Lallana, Moder, Welbeck, Steele, Ferguson, Buonanotte, Kavanagh.
Preamble
Hello world! You can keep your clásicos, your NLDs, your Old Firms. Here it is, the M23 Derby. It is well documented that are some that like to poke fun at the concept, but the origins of this derby rivalry are genuine, organic and just as legitimate as many other grudge matches from around the globe. Here is a brief explainer on how Palace and Brighton came to be adversaries, an animosity that started in earnest in the summer of 1977.
If you haven’t come across HLTCO yet, he’s a Palace fan that runs a podcast and a pretty popular Twitter account. I think he does a good job of summing up what the modern Palace (and Brighton fan) feels about this fixture.
I’m already bricking it ahead of Thursday.
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) December 19, 2023
I know thousands of neutrals say “it’s not a real rivalry” every time our fixtures with Brighton come around but if you ask any fan of either club, they’ll say the same as me.
We hate them, they hate us. It’s been that way my whole…
Tonight’s game should be a cracker. Selhurst Park is always bouncing under the lights, and the festive season only adds to the occasion. Palace earned a battling 2-2 draw at champions Manchester City last time out, and were also unlucky not to get something from their last home match against Liverpool earlier this month, so while you wouldn’t say Roy Hodgson’s side were in form, they will certainly fancy getting a result tonight.
Brighton are Brighton, so are fascinating to watch but the truth is that they have been inconsistent of late, perhaps burdened by their European adventures. It would not be a huge shock if this ended up either 3-1 to Palace or the same score to the Seagulls.
Of course, poking fun at other fans and other teams is half the fun in football. So, in the interests of balance and fairness, to counter all the earnest stuff at the start of this preamble, please enjoy this.
Is Crystal Palace v Brighton the fiercest derby in world football? pic.twitter.com/1Gln3VOnl1
— The Exploding Heads (@Exploding_Heads) October 18, 2020
Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
