Summary:
- The Eagles kicked off looking to continue five game winning streak.
- David Omilabu fires home a penalty to open the scoring.
- Brighton equalise from corner.
- Jack Wells-Morrison makes it 2-1 before half-time.
- HT: Brighton 1-2 Crystal Palace
- Wells-Morrison scores his second to make it 3-1.
- Kaden Rodney scores lovely goal from outside the box for four.
- Jesuran Rak-Sakyi makes it five with ten minutes to go.
- FT: Brighton 1-5 Crystal Palace
From minute one the match was a tightly contested affair, with Brighton stringing together some promising attacks which led to a couple of shots straight at Joe Whitworth.
Palace slowly grew into the game and looked to use the blistering pace of Tayo Adaramola and David Omilabu down the left flank, and Brighton struggled with the overlap. When Omilabu weaved his way into the box and took a slightly heavy touch, he invited Brighton’s Ed Turns’ to stick a foot in and the referee pointed to the spot.
Palace’s top scorer stepped up and slotted it into the bottom right – Fynn Talley in the Brighton goal went the right way but could keep it out.
Several minutes later the away side could have doubled their lead, as Jesuran Rak-Sakyi slid a lovely disguised pass through to Jack Wells-Morrison, who stabbed the ball past the on rushing keeper only for a Brighton defender to clear it off the line.
But Brighton deservedly levelled from a corner, as Ed Turns’ atoned for his error in giving away a penalty by rifling his header past Whitworth into the top left corner. The game had been relatively even until this point, and Brighton did well to level as the Eagles’ defence fell asleep.
Paddy McCarthy’s side responded excellently, and three minutes later Jack Wells-Morrison earned Palace the lead again, after Rak-Sakyi beat his man and fizzed in a low cross for him to tap home. It could have been three if not for an excellent save by Fynn Talley as he got down low with his legs to deny Maliq Cadogan.
The second-half started as the first had ended with the away side dominating proceedings. In the 54th minute, Wells-Morrison netted his second of the game and the team’s third, as Tayo Adaramola found him in the middle of the box and he found the bottom right corner.
The chances kept coming for the south Londoners as Brighton really struggled to get out of the energetic press being put on by Palace. Palace got their fourth, with Kaden Rodney’s fiercely struck shot from outside the box demonstrative of the away side’s dominance.
Only three minutes later, Rak-Sakyi managed to smash home from five yards following a blocked Omilabu shot which fell kindly to him, making it 5-1 to the away side.
It was an excellent away performance by Paddy McCarthy’s team, who continue to impress at the top of the table.
Brighton: Talley, Jenkins (Nilsson, 64), Everitt, Turns, Jackson (Ifill, 56),Offiah, Chouchane, Collier (Sturge 45), Emmerson, Peupion, Moran
Subs not used: Bull, Qureshi.
Palace: Whitworth, Rodney, Adaramola, Steele, Sheridan, Quick, Omilabu, Cadogan (Ozoh, 79), Akinwale (Kymani Gordon, 79), Wells-Morrison, Rak-Sakyi
Subs not used: Lewis-Brown, Goodman, Ola-Adebomi.
