Danny Welbeck’s header rescued Brighton a 1-1 draw away to Crystal Palace in the M23 derby.
Welbeck looped a 82nd minute header into the top-right from Pascal Gross’ cross to rescue Brighton a point, having dominated the second half in a scrappy contest.
The ex Manchester United and Arsenal forward had only recently returned from a muscle injury and speaking post-match to Sky Sports, he described the equaliser as a “nice” goal to get himself back on the scoresheet.
Jordan Ayew had earlier handed Palace a half-time lead after he nodded in from Michael Olise’s cross in the 45th minute, with the Eagles’ winless home run now extended to seven matches.
Palace moved up from 15th to 12th in the table ahead of the weekend’s games, whilst Brighton climbed to eighth in the table.
After their 32-match goalscoring streak in the league was ended at Arsenal last weekend, Brighton looked to bounce back in a lively start to the M23 derby but Gross fired wide in the fourth minute.
Palace though looked to end their run of six home matches without a win as both teams settled in a dedicate passing game, which led to little chances in the opening 12 minutes.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles’ first chance eventually came in the 13th minute as Jefferson Lerma played Michael Olise forward with a diagonal pass, but Olise’s cutback low cross into the box evaded Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew failed to follow up successfully.
Simon Adingra then saw a 19th minute shot for Brighton blocked by Dean Henderson, but he was intercepted eight minutes later by Tyrick Mitchell who found Mateta but the Frenchman’s shot was saved by Bart Verbruggen.
That chance soon sparked more life into Palace but Ayew and Mateta saw shots saved by Verbruggen, whilst Gross saw a 40th minute chance for Brighton punched away by Henderson as the Germain targeted the top-left corner from just outside of the box.
The first half soon began to fizzle out until Olise intercepted Verbruggen’s clearance late in the 45th minute with a header towards Hughes, who passed back for the 22 year-old who whipped in a deep cross which Ayew nodded in at the left post to put Palace ahead at half-time.
Brighton manager, Roberto De Zerbi responded with two changes at half-time as Adingra and Carlos Baleba were substituted off for Welbeck and Facundo Buonanotte respectively.
De Zerbi’s tactical switch almost didn’t have its intended impact as Palace enjoyed the stronger start initially, but Olise’s shot was blocked.
Brighton soon afterwards seized control and almost equalised in the 51st minute only for Welbeck’s header from Gross’ corner to be blocked, whilst Dunk nodded wide three minutes later as the Seagulls continued to push for an equaliser.
Jack Hinshelwood then fired wide in the 55th minute just as he was brought down by Ayew but referee – John Brooks dismissed Brighton’s appeals for a penalty.
Such was Brighton’s early dominance in the second half, Palace failed to register a single shot on target by the 67th minute.
Kaoru Mitoma and Hinshelwood meanwhile saw chances wasted as Palace continued to soak up the pressure, until they broke forward in the 78th minute but substitute – Eberechi Eze saw his shot blocked by a sliding Jan Paul van Hecke before he headed wide from the set piece.
Mateta fired wide a minute later from long-range as Palace looked to claim their first home win since early September, which saw them beat Wolves in a five-goal thriller on that occasion.
Palace’s hopes of that rare home win however were dashed in the 82nd minute as Welbeck unexpectedly looped his header from Gross’ cross into the top-right corner beyond the reach of a outstretched Henderson who dived to try and make the futile save.
Each of Palace’s last four home meetings against Brighton had finished in a 1-1 draw but the hosts survived an almighty scare in the 89th minute, as Henderson deflected a long ball onto Welbeck’s head but the ball bounced wide of the bottom-right corner to the goalkeeper’s relief.
Welbeck post-match quipped that he would of liked the ball to had gone in as he explained: “It was close. When Billy [Gilmour] got the ball and I saw him lift his head up, I knew I could run in behind. Dean Henderson has punched it directly into my head. It would have been nice if it had gone in.”
Neither team ultimately broke the deadlock as their meeting at Selhurst Park ultimately finished in a draw for the fifth consecutive season.
Post-match, De Zerbi believed that Brighton had missed out on the win as he told Sky Sports: “I think we lost two points. It is because we made too many mistakes, especially in the first half. In the second half we played with more energy, to find the chance to score.”
Hodgson in his post-match interview to Sky Sports meanwhile felt that a draw was a fair result for both teams.
“Our players stuck at the task well. I can’t deny Brighton were worthy of a point especially with the quality of that equalising goal. But at the end of the day, in a derby game, we have to be satisfied with a point.”
What’s Next?
Palace head to Chelsea on Wednesday 27 December in a London derby at Stamford Bridge in a 7:30pm GMT kick-off, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Brighton meanwhile host Tottenham 24 hours later at the AMEX Stadium on Thursday 28 December in a 7:30pm kick-off, also live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Teams
Crystal Palace: Dean Henderson, Nathaniel Clyne, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell, Jefferson Lerma, Chris Richards, Will Hughes (Ozoh 59′), Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew (Eze 70′)
Substitutes: James Tomkins, Eberechi Eze, Matheus Franca, Jeffrey Schlupp, Malcolm Ebiowei, Naouirou Ahamada, Remi Matthews, Jairo Riedewald, David Ozoh
Brighton: Bart Verbruggen, Jack Hinshelwood (Lallana 75′), Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Igor Julio, Carlos Baleba (Buonanotte 45′), Billy Gilmour, Simon Adingra (Welbeck 45′), Pascal Gross, Kaoru Mitoma (Moder 83′), Joao Pedro
Substitutes: James Milner, Mahoud Dahoud, Adam Lallana, Jakub Moder, Danny Welbeck, Jason Steele, Evan Ferguson, Facundo Buonanotte, Leigh Kavanagh
Referee – John Brooks
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