Brighton & Hove Albion turned the latest chapter of the M23 derby into a one-sided afternoon at the American Express Stadium, sweeping Crystal Palace aside 5-0 in Sunday’s Premier League meeting. Palace had moments to change the shape of it, striking the woodwork twice after the break, but Brighton had already made the contest disappear inside the opening ten minutes.
Why it landed this week
- Brighton & Hove Albion
- Crystal Palace
- Charalampos Kostoulas
- Yasin Ayari
- Diego Gómez
- Jack Hinshelwood
The match, played on 18 October in the seventh round of the Premier League season, began with Palace conceding an own goal in the fourth minute. Jaydee Canvot was credited with the decisive touch as Brighton found an immediate way through.
There was no time for the visitors to settle. Three minutes later Diego Gómez doubled the advantage with a right-footed effort from beyond 30 yards, sent straight through the middle after Olivier Boscagli had started a counter-attack. In the 10th minute, Kostoulas supplied Yasin Ayari, whose low right-foot finish found the left corner for 3-0.
Brighton continued to carry the sharper threat before the interval. Kostoulas tested Walter Benítez from range, while Ayari had an effort saved after Lewis Dunk’s pass. Pascal Groß was booked for a dangerous challenge shortly before half-time, with the hosts taking their three-goal lead into the dressing room.
Palace find the frame, Brighton find another gear
Crystal Palace altered their midfield at the break, introducing Dwight McNeil for Quinten Timber, and made further changes shortly afterwards. Jefferson Lerma replaced Honest Ahanor, while Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta came on for Yéremy Pino and Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Yet Brighton restarted with the same appetite. Kostoulas fired narrowly wide after a breakaway, before his left-footed finish in the 49th minute made it 4-0. Ayari’s initial shot had been blocked, and the goal was checked before VAR confirmed it.
Palace did create the clearest openings of their afternoon after that. Mateta struck the crossbar from McNeil’s delivery in the 63rd minute, and Lerma headed against the left post from Adam Wharton’s corner 11 minutes later. Neither chance could provide even a small measure of recovery.
Chema Andrés was cautioned for Brighton on 64 minutes and Daichi Kamada received Palace’s yellow card seven minutes earlier. Around them, the home side remained in control: Luka Vušković headed wide from a free-kick, Georginio Rutter drew a save from outside the area, and Ferdi Kadıoğlu forced Benítez into action from distance.
Hinshelwood supplies the final word
Brighton’s substitutions only maintained the pressure. Rutter and Jack Hinshelwood entered in the 71st minute for Kostoulas and Groß, before Malick Yalcouyé and Jaouen Hadjam followed for Ayari and Boscagli. Michael Svoboda replaced captain Dunk at the start of four minutes of added time.
The fifth came six minutes from the end. Vušković’s close-range header, from Maxim De Cuyper’s cross, was saved, but Hinshelwood reacted from the resulting corner and drove a right-footed finish into the top-left corner.
Palace’s final attacks brought corners and an offside flag against Mateta after Anan Khalaili attempted to send him through. They left Sussex without a goal and with a derby defeat that had been settled long before the final whistle.
