Friday night proved that Brighton have the edge on Palace

On another cold, dark and chilly evening, we found ourselves at the Amex again. Unlike for the past few home games, the atmosphere was electric as Crystal Palace came to town. By full time, we had seen that the Albion now have the edge over their rivals.

Brighton were so unlucky not to have the full three points, showing that they were the better team on the night. The table does not lie either and we sit four points above Palace. If it stays like that until the end of the season, nobody can deny that the Albion have overtaken Palace.

Having watched Palace the previous Saturday lunchtime against Millwall in the FA Cup on TV, it was clear that they would be a force to be reckoned with – even without three players including their club legend Wilfred Zaha who is at the African Cup of Nations.

The likes of Conor Gallagher, Michael Olise and Christian Benteke are all good players and all were available to Patrick Viera on the night.

It was an early start for us from North Sussex on Friday afternoon. We boarded the Seagulls Travel coach from Lindfield having decided that it was the most sensible mode of transport as I did not feel that I wanted to be caught up with any Palace mobs on the train at my age of 66-years-old.

Some 40 minutes after leaving Lindfield, we cruised into the ground. Just like at the Arsenal game, there were buses and coaches in numbers you have never seen before.

Excitement was building and there was quite a backlog to get into the stadium. It was nice to get seated and when the team was announced, I counted seven changes from the side who played against West Brom in the FA Cup the previous week.

The Brighton bench looked particularly strong with a host of talent for Graham Potter to call upon as the game went on.

A few minutes before kick off and the ground suddenly came alive. It was as if everyone drinking on the concourses had swallowed their pints in one gulp to dive into position ready to belt out Sussex By The Sea. The anthem was really sung with feeling and passion, the noise inside the stadium something else.

This atmosphere fed into a game which had it all. A missed penalty from Pascal Gross. A disallowed goal from Neal Maupay. Palace taking an underserved lead and then a late own goal to make it Brighton 1-1 Palace.

The Albion played a blinding first half in my opinion. As the game progressed, they settled down and really took it to the visitors.

A great move from the back led Jakub Moder to send a long ball forward. Although this was cut out, Marc Cucurella picked up the pieces, moving possession onto Leandro Trossard, who was away on goal with only Palace goalkeeper Jack Butland to beat.

Butland unfortunately made a great stop and the Albion were denied an opening goal. The whole stadium was on its feet in response, a real sign of how much winning this game would mean.

Next, Alexis Mac Allister placed a beautiful corner into the penalty area. It Rick O’Shayed around before being hit over the bar by Moder.

Referee Robert Jones though was advised that there had been a possible infringement on Joel Veltman by Will Hughes. It turned out there was no possible about it… watching it back after and Hughes had wrestled Veltman to the ground.

Mr Jones gave the signal that Brighton were to have a penalty and the Amex erupted. Gross was the chosen taker and he missed with a very poor, weak penalty lacking substance or flair easily saved by Butland.

Actually, there was some flare – a big red one thrown onto the pitch as Gross prepared to take by the Palace fans behind the goal.

This delayed proceedings a little, which did not help Gross in the build up. The flare also came very close to hitting Butland – only a Palace supporter would think it a good idea to hurl a lit flare at their own goalkeeper.

From the resulting corner, Gross’ delivery made its way to the far post where Maupay bundled into the back of the net.

Another VAR review from Mr Jones saw him conclude that Maupay’s left foot had been rather high when coming together with Butland, causing the ball to come loose from the Palace goalkeeper’s arms.

The goal was disallowed and so it remained Brighton 0-0 Palace at half time. Brighton should have been a couple of goals ahead as Palace were unable to deal with the great football being played by the Albion.

I thought we might have seen Benteke come on at half time to try and help Palace record their first shot on target. That was not to be. Whatever Vieira what said during the 15 minute interval seemed to work however as Palace were a bit better in the second half.

Moder had another good chance deflected onto the cross bar before the game became more of an end-to-end contest, including Robert Sanchez making a good save from Odsonne Édouard.

It was Conor Gallagher who gave Palace the lead, slotting home in the 69th minute. Dan Burn did so well to nearly block the shot, coming close to getting a vital touch which would have diverted it away from goal. He was literally inches away… if only he had a few more on top of his existing 6’7.

Palace seemed to grow in confidence from taking the lead. Potter needed to do something and he made changes, Danny Welbeck and Solly March joining Tariq Lamptey who had come on earlier in the second half.

The fresh legs provided new ideas as Brighton attacked the North Stand. With each passing minute though it appeared as if the game was going to end in defeat for Brighton.

Then with three minutes remaining, Maupay crossed to the near post from tightly on the touchline. Joachim Andersen tried to clear but only succeeded in diverting it past Butland to make it 1-1 right at the death.

There was still a chance for Brighton to win it. Welbeck took a great header which just skimmed over the bar from a March cross. You could argue that Lamptey should have had a penalty too when he was infringed but Mr Jones said no.

Alas, that was the end of the entertainment and with a little more luck, Brighton would have won. It looked like a large number of fans needed luck getting home in a safe and orderly manner too, a bit of a foo-pa taking place in leaving the ground which we luckily missed.

I am really looking forward to Chelsea on Tuesday night. Play like we did in the first half and it should be a cracking game – and a chance to move further ahead of Palace in the table.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony