Selhurst Park isn’t just a Premier League football ground, but the heart of a vibrant and diverse community, stretching back a century since Palace’s arrival in 1924. Find out more about the incredible history of Selhurst Park.

100 Years of Selhurst Park

## South London and Proud

> Born in Greenwich, south London, Eberechi Eze joined Palace in summer 2020 as a landmark signing and has since established himself as a leading attacking talent in the Premier League.

Eberechi Eze signed a five-year contract with Crystal Palace F.C. in August 2020, becoming the club’s second arrival of the summer transfer window.

The south London-born playmaker rose through the ranks at Queens Park Rangers after joining them in 2016. An FA Cup debut followed in January 2017 and later that year, Eze made 22 appearances in a half-season loan to Wycombe Wanderers.

Then still a teenager, the attack-minded youngster played a key role in the Chairboys’ promotion to League One that season, scoring five goals - including a brace against Cambridge United.

On his return to QPR, Eze established himself as a regular first-team player, being awarded the No.10 shirt and a three-year contract in 2018. He left the Hoops with 20 goals from 112 senior games, collecting Supporters’ Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Junior Hoops Player of the Season for 19/20 as well as being shortlisted for PFA Player of the Year.

Internationally, Eze has represented England at both Under-20 and Under-21 level, and was named in the U21 squad the same week he signed for Palace.

He made his Palace debut as an 81st-minute substitute against Southampton in September 2020, and scored his first goal for the Eagles shortly after, netting a Goal of the Month free-kick versus Leeds United.

Another sensational strike – this time against Sheffield United – earned Eze the club's Goal of the Season award for 2020/21. He finished the 20/21 campaign with six goals and four assists in 35 games.

The midfielder received a call from the England first-team, after his performances in 20/21, but was desperately unfortunate to suffer an Achillies injury two matches before the end of the season, keeping him sidelined for over six months.

Injury meant that the majority of 2021/22 was spent in recovery for Eze, but he returned in the latter part of campaign and scored his only goal of 21/22 in a 2-1 win away at Southampton – a well-taken finish.

The following season was Eze's finest in a Palace shirt to date, the playmaker establishing himself as a leading offensive talent in the Premier League.

The No. 10 featured in all 38 of the Eagles' Premier League games in 2022/23, coming into his own after the World Cup break, finishing the season with 10 goals – Palace's top scorer – and four assists to his name. He was at his mesmeric best during April 2023, scoring four times in Palace’s six games and earning a Premier League Player of the Month nomination.

In June, Eze became the 18th Crystal Palace player to represent England, coming on after 70 minutes of a 4-0 win over Malta – and even having an effort cleared off the line.

He made his 100th Premier League appearance for the club against Fulham in September 2023 and signed a new three-and-a-half year deal in November, extending his stay in SE25 until 2027.

His 2023/24 season was intermittently broken up due to injury, however he still managed to produce his best ever season in terms of attacking returns with 11 goals and four assists in 27 Premier League games. Eze also won the Goal of the Season award, as voted for by the fans, with his winner at Anfield in April 2024.

Eze's fine form towards the end of 23/24 saw him called up to the England squad ahead of the 2024 UEFA European Championship. He was also rewarded with his first start for the Three Lions in a 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in early June.

He made an impact off the bench on three occasions for England, helping the side to the final they finished runners-up in the 2024 UEFA European Championship.

QPR 2019/20

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PFA Team of the Season 

Players’ Player of the Season

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November 2020, January 2021, October 2022, April 2023, March 2024

Crystal Palace Player of the Month

October 2022, April 2023, October 2023, December 2023

Crystal Palace Goal of the Month

Crystal Palace, 2020/21 (v Sheffield United) | Crystal Palace, 2023/24 (v Liverpool)

Goal of the Season

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### **Summary:**

- Unbeaten in four, Palace unchanged from draw with Manchester City.
- **3:** Henderson repels Mitoma’s low shot with his legs.
- **7:** Goalkeeper then dashes from his line to deny Minteh a route to goal.
- **25:** Palace win succession of corners as Eze and Mateta threaten.
- **27 – GOAL:** Chalobah scrambles Palace in front from a corner.
- **33 – GOAL:** Sarr heads home a second from Mitchell’s hanging cross.
- **36:** Mateta’s near-post flick kept out by Verbruggen.
- **43:** Eze heads wide from Munoz’s clipped cross.
- **HT: Brighton 0-2 Palace**
- **54:** Lacroix blocks from Mitoma as Brighton pile on second-half pressure.
- **56:** Henderson keeps out Dunk’s header and Enciso’s curling effort.
- **67:** Muñoz denied a third by referee’s whistle after Sarr challenge on Estupiñan.
- **69:** Nketiah and Sarr go close on the counter.
- **77:** Gruda’s free-kick narrowly clears the crossbar for Brighton.
- **82 – GOAL:** Sarr capitalises on Dunk’s hesitation to roll home Palace’s third.
- **87 – GOAL:** Brighton get one back with fortuitous own-goal.
- **90:** Nketiah runs clean through from Kamada’s pass but scoops wide.
- **FT: Brighton 1-3 Palace**

Match Action: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace

Palace – unchanged from last weekend’s 2-2 draw with champions Manchester City – were seeking a first win in seven matches against Brighton, but went into the game off the back of a stronger run of recent from than their traditional rivals.

But the first chance of the game was Brighton’s after three minutes. A clever flick from Joao Pedro on the edge of the box put Kaoru Mitoma in down the left, and his low shot across goal was well kicked away by Dean Henderson.

Just moments later, the England international was busy again, racing from his line to race Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh to a ball over the top. On the bounce, the attacker made the first contact with the ball, but Henderson got more on it and cleared impressively.

Those two half-chances set the tone for a stop-start opening: Brighton often sought an aerial route to goal, but Palace looked increasingly threatening on the counter as the half wore on.

Then, with the clock ticking towards the half-hour mark, Oliver Glasner’s side seized control of the contest.

After some clever movement from Ebere Eze – often playing on the turn in the centre circle – led to a series of Palace corners, Will Hughes – on his 100th  appearance for the club – delivered an in-swinging cross.

As it dropped, the ball, deflected off Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke, and fell – delightfully from a Palace perspective – for Trevoh Chalobah to scoop home from six yards, sending the away end into bedlam.

But that was just the start of it.

Palace had their tails up, and after Ismaïla Sarr’s low drilled cross was spilled by Bart Verbruggen, Tyrick Mitchell picked up the rebound and poked it to Daniel Muñoz, whose low effort required beating away at the near post by the Brighton ‘keeper.

Then, seconds after Yasin Ayari had blasted over for Brighton from the edge of the box, Maxence Lacroix went long towards Tyrick Mitchell with a free-kick.

The wing-back was fortunate to see his opposite number, Tyriq Lamptey, completely misjudge the flight of the ball, and took full advantage, delivering a devastating hanging cross which Sarr did superbly to head back across goal for his second in his last three away matches.

The Eagles were soaring at the home of their archrivals; Verbruggen reacted sharply to keep out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s near-post flick, before Eze – finding plenty of space to run onto a clipped cross from Muñoz – generated too much power with his header, clearing the top-right corner.

Boos from sections of the Brighton support at half-time will have been music to Palace ears, but their lead was fully merited after a diligent and clinical first-half display.

That organisation was tested soon after the restart, as a half-time change of shape saw the hosts pen Palace back for much of the opening stages of the second-half, Chalobah and Lacroix blocking goal-bound efforts from Pedro and Mitoma respectively.

Lewis Dunk was next to go close for Brighton, but Henderson reacted sharply to keep out his powerful header from Mitoma’s free-kick. Seconds later, he denied Julio Enciso, whose bending effort from 25 yards seemed all but certain to settle in the bottom corner.

Palace responded with a double change of their own, Daichi Kamada and Eddie Nketiah coming on for Eze and Mateta respectively.

That appeared to stem the flow of chances which had characterised the start of the second-half – and Palace may even have had a third after 67 minutes as Sarr went shoulder to shoulder with Pervis Estupiñán, before squaring for Muñoz to tap home, only for the referee’s whistle to sound in Brighton’s favour.

Indeed, for all of Brighton’s dominance of the ball, Palace’s threat again grew as the half went on, with Nketiah firing a low effort across goal and Sarr whipping the side-netting from a tight angle on the opposite side.

Palace’s defence was holding firm, with only a moment of inspiration likely to breach it, albeit Brighton’s Brajan Gruda came close to picking out the top corner with a deflected free-kick – the effort, thankfully, landed on the roof of the net.

There was still time to sprinkle a – and, of course, Sarr was the man to provide it, racing onto Nketiah’s flick-on, nicking the ball past a hesitating Dunk and rolling it home beyond Verbruggen with delightful composure.

Spirits could not even be dampened by a Brighton consolation goal a few minutes later, as a scramble at a corner saw the ball cruelly deflect in off an unwitting Guéhi.

There was even time left for Nketiah to run clean through from Kamada’s through-ball, but his lobbed finish evaded the far post, before Henderson denied Enciso with one final impressive save.

By then, however, there had already been an exodus at Amex Stadium, with Palace becoming the first team to win away there this season.

It was an afternoon to remember.

**Brighton:** Verbruggen (GK), Lamptey (Enciso, HT), Dunk, Van Hecke, Estupinan, Baleba, Ayari (Gruda, 72), Minteh (Ferguson, 72), Rutter (Adingra, 72), Mitoma, Pedro.

**Subs:** Steele (GK), Igor, Moder, Wieffer, McConville.

**Palace:** Henderson (GK), Muñoz, Chalobah, Lacroix, Guéhi, Mitchell (Clyne, 85), Lerma, Hughes (Doucouré, 85), Eze (Kamada, 60), Sarr (Devenny, 90+2), Mateta (Nketiah, 60).

**Subs:** Turner (GK), Kporha, Schlupp, Agbinone.

### As It Happened:

Trevoh Chalobah and Ismaila Sarr (two) got the goals as a razor-sharp Crystal Palace breezed past rivals Brighton at the Amex Stadium.

Report & Highlights: Clinical Palace cut through Brighton

Brighton and Hove Albion v Crystal Palace (2024-12-15)

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“Happiness,” Glasner summed up his emotions after the 3-1 victory. “Especially about the performance of the players, and for our fans here today.

“We knew it was an important game for our fans, for the club, and so the players performed really well today. We struggled a little bit at the beginning of the game and at the beginning of the second-half, but then we got the game under control, we scored nice goals, so overall, a great performance and a big win.

“I love football and this atmosphere. I mentioned it at the press conference: we prepared like we prepare every single Premier League game the whole season, \[with\] what we want to do, how we want to play, their strengths, their weaknesses, especially our strengths… and then, today, we talked about how important it is for our fans.

“The fans have always supported us the whole season. Even when we had the defeats at the beginning of the season, they were always behind the team, behind us, and we said maybe it's an opportunity for us to give them a little bit back, and maybe a first Christmas gift!

“The players – I mention it quite often – are great characters, so they gave the first Christmas gift to our fans, and I hope they enjoyed the afternoon.”

Trevoh Chalobah and Ismaïla Sarr (two) got the goals to cap a memorable collective display of resilience, diligence and – when the opportunity arose – a real cutting edge from the Eagles.

“We know that they play with a high line, defending man-to-man. Ismaïla’s strength is his pace, and then we knew we could get him there,” Glasner explained.

“The first one was a great header from him, so when we get him into these running duels he's always able to score goals. He's more confident than at the beginning of the season, he feels better.

“He understands better and better how we want to play as a team, what he has to do – also with Dani Muñoz, because there was one disallowed goal where he would assist and Dani the goal – this is getting better and better, so we are really pleased for him.”

As for the impact of his substitutes, who helped Palace gain a foothold during a difficult spell early in the second-half, Glasner smiled: “I’m very proud. We spoke about it before. We always call it ‘in the crunch time’: there are usually two, three, four, five new players on the pitch, and then we can win as a team, and today it was \[the case\].

“We changed our system to a 3-5-2 after half-time, we didn't get pressure on the ball, and then we could see all the quality they have in their attacking formation, and we needed Dean Henderson with two, three big saves in this situation.

“Then with the substitutions, it's completely normal. JP \[Mateta\] and Ebs \[Eze\] worked quite hard for the team, so then with Eddie \[Nketiah\] and Daichi \[Kamada\] we got more pressure on the ball, we got the game more into their half, and then we created chances and we scored goals.

“It's outstanding that with the third goal, Eddie wins the header in the duel against \[Lewis\] Dunk, and then Ismaila is the guy who runs one-on-one on the keeper and has an amazing finish, so that was a very, very positive team performance.”

Palace have now lost just once in their last nine matches, winning four of them, and – on Sunday – scored three goals in a Premier League match for the first time this season.

Explaining Palace’s recent turnaround, Glasner said: “We know each other for a long time, we’ve trained together for a long time. I mentioned it quite often but we didn't talk about it at the beginning of the season because it looked like excuses, and excuses never help to win games, so we worked pretty hard, the players worked pretty hard, and it was 12 players without the pre-season.

“When we talk about the back three, for example, Marc Guéhi was injured at the end of last season, so was new to how we played in the back three. Maxence Lacroix and Trevoh Chalobah arrived on deadline day, two weeks after the start of the Premier League, \[so had\] no time for them to train together.

“Trevoh wasn't allowed to train with the Chelsea squad, Marc arrived ten days before the Premier League start, after a very long season and tournament with England, so it just takes time \[so\] that we get each other known, that we know how we want to play, what we expect from them in defending, I think they are doing better and better, but I still think they are not on the top of how they can perform together.

“I can talk about many others who had this situation. We stayed very, very calm. The whole club always felt the support from the Sporting Director, from the Chairman, and from the players especially, because they are the most important ones, and so it's staying calm, working hard, analysing without emotion.

“Also, in the other games we were always competitive, but we didn't take the goals, we didn't take the wins, and now it's better.

“But also now is no time to relax and play bad, now is to keep the momentum and enjoy this win, but the preparation for the Carabao Cup quarter-final \[at Arsenal on Wednesday\] starts now, so we’ve started with the recovery in the locker room, and then we go to the Emirates, and we want to go into the semi-finals.”

Oliver Glasner hopes Crystal Palace’s big win over rivals Brighton & Hove Albion can – in some small part – repay the fans for their outstanding support so far this season.

Glasner: That was our first gift to the fans!

Crystal Palace produced an outstanding display to inflict a 3-1 defeat on Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon – and you can enjoy the best images from a memorable performance in our gallery below!

Gallery: Palace blast past Brighton at the Amex

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Report & Highlights: Clinical Palace cut through Brighton

Glasner: That was our first gift to the fans!

Gallery: Palace blast past Brighton at the Amex

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Extended Highlights: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

The Full 90: Brighton and Hove Albion v Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

Match Action: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace

Kaminski reflects on defeat at home

Glasner discusses first Brighton win

Chalobah talks through his second goal

10Eberechi
Eze

Match reports

Match reports

Report & Highlights: Clinical Palace cut through Brighton

Glasner: That was our first gift to the fans!

Gallery: Palace blast past Brighton at the Amex

Christmas Shopping

Latest Videos

Extended Highlights: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

The Full 90: Brighton and Hove Albion v Crystal Palace | Palace TV+

Match Action: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Crystal Palace

Kaminski reflects on defeat at home

Glasner discusses first Brighton win

Chalobah talks through his second goal

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Eze