Eagles scrape a draw against the Seagulls

February 11 2023

James Tomkins nods the ball over the line to make it 1-1

Crystal Palace make it three draws in four games, with a 1-1 result against rivals Brighton at Selhurst Park.

With a number of players out injured, Palace boss Patrick Vieira was forced to make a few changes, including James Tomkins returning to the back four as Chris Richards was ruled out with a back problem.

Wilfried Zaha was ruled out with a hamstring injury, so Vieira opted for Jean-Philippe Mateta up front, with Jeffrey Schlupp, Jordan Ayew and Michael Olise supporting him from midfield.

The visitors controlled a lot of the ball from the get go, and had a number of chances to go ahead in the first 20 minutes. They thought they were ahead on 32 minutes when Pervis Estupinan's curled shot found it's way past Vicente Guaita but after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Buoyed by the cancellation of Brighton's goal, Palace almost had a chance to score shortly after when Mateta's shot at point blank range was stopped by Robert Sánchez.

In the second half the visitors went ahead on 63 minutes when Solly March swept the ball home at the far post, and the game started to look bleak for the Eagles.

Fortune was with them though, when six minutes later a free kick from the left was curled in by Olise and Sánchez dropped the ball right in front of Tomkins who reacted quickest to nod the ball home, to make it 1-1.

Despite more Brighton pressure, Palace held them off and the game ended in a draw, and continued their unbeaten run against their rivals, who haven't beaten them since 2019.

Palace: Guaita, Clyne, Tomkins, Guéhi, Mitchell, Doucouré, Hughes (Sambi Lokonga, 56), Olise (Ahamada, 84), J Ayew, Schlupp (Eze, 71), Mateta (Édouard, 71)

Brighton: Sánchez, Veltman, Webster (Lamptey, 76), Dunk, Estupiñán, Groß, Caicedo, March, Mac Allister, Mitoma, Undav (Ferguson, 57)