Brighton & Hove Albion returned to winning ways in convincing style as they recorded their first Premier League victory of 2024 with a comfortable 4-1 win over Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium.
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Lewis Dunk gave Brighton a dream start and two further goals inside two minutes put the home side in control.
Palace’s woes were summed up by half-time substitute Michael Olise limping off less than 10 minutes after coming on.
Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Palace a brief glimmer of hope but that was ended by Joao Pedro’s stunning strike that sealed a win that takes Brighton up to seventh spot.
How the match unfolded
James Milner was ruled out through injury while Tariq Lamptey returned to Brighton’s starting XI, one of five changes made by Roberto De Zerbi following their 4-0 midweek loss at Luton Town.
Palace handed a debut to new signing Daniel Munoz, but the heroes of the midweek win over Sheffield United Olise (bench) and Eberechi Eze (out), were not in the starting XI.
Having conceded twice inside three minutes at Luton on Tuesday, Brighton got off to a flying start when Dunk rose highest to head home a Pascal Gross corner after only three minutes for their first Premier League goal of 2024 in their fourth match.
Seagulls’ head coach De Zerbi got his third yellow card of the season, ruling him out of the next match against Tottenham Hotspur on 10 February.
Roy Hodgson was forced to reshuffle the Palace pack on 28 minutes when defender Marc Guehi limped off, to be replaced by another new signing, Adam Wharton.
Brighton capitalised ruthlessly, adding two further goals in as many minutes to put themselves in control at the break.
Jack Hinshelwood headed home Lamptey’s 33rd-minute cross for the Seagulls’ second. Then debutant Wharton was dispossessed by Billy Gilmour, Gross took over and teed up Facundo Buonanotte, who curled a sublime effort beyond Dean Henderson.
Palace’s best chance of the half came on the stroke of half-time, but Jan Paul van Hecke did brilliantly to head clear Jefferson Lerma’s fierce drive.
Olise was introduced at the start of the second half in place of Jeffrey Schlupp, but matters went from bad to worse for the Eagles when he was forced off barely 10 minutes later, signalling to the bench he could not carry on after trying to sprint for the ball.
Palace gave themselves a lifeline with 19 minutes remaining when Munoz rescued a bouncing ball and laid it into the path of Joachim Andersen, whose inswinging cross was powerfully headed home by Mateta.
Any hopes of an Eagles revival were dashed by a sublime Brighton move. Joao Pedro played a neat one-two with sub Danny Welbeck before burying his shot into the bottom left corner with the outside of his right boot.
Brighton's first Premier League win since 28 December takes them to seventh place on 35 points. Palace remain in 14th spot on 24 points.
See: Brighton report | Crystal Palace report
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
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Key facts
Brighton are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home matches (W5 D5), with only Liverpool (23) and Manchester City (21) currently enjoying a longer run without defeat on home soil in the division.
Since the start of 2017/18 (Brighton’s first season in the Premier League), only James Ward-Prowse (22) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (18) have more Premier League assists from dead-ball situations than Gross (14).
There were only 83 seconds between Hinshelwood’s goal (2-0) and Buonanotte’s strike putting Brighton 3-0 up.
Olise became the first Palace player to be subbed on and off in a single Premier League match since Jason Puncheon vs Man City in December 2017.