Late drama at the Palace: Photos from Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton
For 94 minutes, it looked like any photos taken by Albion fans at Selhurst Park would feature simply police and despair… and then Neal Maupay made it Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton and suddenly we have a collection that will surely be one of the best of the season.
It is amazing what a goal 30 seconds from time can do to change the mood and even more so when that goal comes against your arch rivals.
Whilst Palace played well, Brighton were miles below their best under the lights. Yves Bissouma was a huge miss as the Seagulls were overrun in midfield, resulting in Vicente Guaita being hardly troubled all evening.
A clumsy Leandro Trossard tackle on the excellent Conor Gallagher gave Wilfried Zaha the chance to put Palace ahead from the spot and as every Seagulls fan knows only too well, he does not miss a chance to score against Brighton.
The Albion are in good form though and when you have a bit of confidence, you keep going right until the final seconds. A poor kick from Guaita was hit back over the Palace defence by Joel Veltman, putting Maupay in on goal to lob the advancing home goalkeeper. Why did they let it bounce?
That sparked scenes of absolute carnage on the pitch and in the away end. Brighton players goaded the Palace fans. Flares went off. Toilet roll was chucked. One bloke even lifted Leandro Trossard up and down like he was a rag doll.
Selhurst might be an absolute dump, but there is always something quite atmospheric about photos taken from that 1950s away end – even when the Albion lose, as they most recently did in April 2018 when it finished Palace 3-2 Brighton.
And whilst this might have been a draw, the manner in which it arrived made it feel more like a win. Like we said, it will take something special to top this lot of photos…
If you have any photos you would like included our Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton gallery, please e-mail them to wearebrighton@hotmail.co.uk or tweet them to us @wearebrighton
