Just when it looked like Eberechi Eze’s deft header had stopped them in their tracks, an equaliser from Vitaly Janelt with the last touch of the match stretched Brentford’s incredible unbeaten run to 11 league matches and denied Crystal Palace their first victory of 2023.
Given that two goals had been scored in the three previous Premier League meetings between these clubs, this was never likely to be a classic and so it proved. But having taken the lead midway through the second half courtesy of a flowing move that was started and finished by Eze, the sucker punch for Palace arrived in the seventh minute of injury time courtesy of another substitute in the form of the Germany midfielder Janelt when he headed home Bryan Mbeumo’s cross.
