Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: Three Goals in Ten Minutes Settle the Derby
An own goal, a long-range strike from Diego Gómez and a Yasin Ayari finish had Brighton 3-0 up by the tenth minute at the Amex.
Brighton and Hove Albion beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at the American Express Stadium on Sunday, 18 October, in a match that was effectively decided inside the opening ten minutes.
A ten-minute blitz
Brighton led after four minutes, when Jaydee Canvot headed Pascal Gross's cross into his own net, according to Sky Sports. Three minutes later Diego Gómez struck from long range — Sky puts it at roughly 50 yards — and caught the Palace goalkeeper off his line. In the 10th minute Yasin Ayari finished after Gómez and Charalampos Kostoulas had pulled the Palace defence apart, making it 3-0.
Palace never recovered. Jean-Philippe Mateta hit the bar, which Sky describes as their closest moment. Early in the second half Kostoulas made it 4-0 after more loose Palace defending; the 11v11 match record lists the goal at 49 minutes, and Sky notes a VAR check for handball that did not change the decision. Substitute Jack Hinshelwood added a fifth in the 84th minute.
The record books
According to 11v11, it was Brighton's fourth consecutive league clean sheet, a first for the club. The same record notes Palace's starting line-up, averaging about 25 years and 78 days old, was their youngest away XI in the Premier League since January 2022. Cards went to Gross and Chema Andrés for Brighton and Daichi Kamada for Palace, and the attendance was 31,440.
What it means
For Brighton, Sky reports 16 points from their first seven league games and describes them as moving towards the top of the table. Fabian Hürzeler credited his players and staff, and said he was pleased to beat Palace after the earlier defeat that had frustrated supporters.
For Palace the picture is bleaker. Sky's Lewis Jones called it Pierre Sage's worst day as Palace manager. Sage took personal responsibility for the slow starts, saying his preparation and pre-match motivation need to change, while midfielder Adam Wharton said the team's start was far below the standard supporters deserve and that it has to be fixed quickly. Sky also points to defensive strain following the departures of Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix.
The result is a reminder of how quickly a game can be lost: Palace conceded three times before the first quarter-hour was done, and the rest of the afternoon was damage limitation.