Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton: Eagles get lucky but gap is growing

How many people in the Croydon area sacrifice their first born under a full moon to the pagan goddess of luck before the Albion visit Selhurst Park every year? Because nothing else can realistically explain yet another 1-1 draw between Crystal Palace and Brighton.

The Albion should have hammered their arch rivals by three or four clear goals. That they had to settle for a mere point was because of poor finishing, an atrocious VAR decision and an absolute goalkeeping howler from Robert Sanchez. The sort of circumstances that only ever conspire to happen at the same time when Brighton face the Eagles.

Palace turn into the luckiest sods alive whenever the Seagulls arrive in town. Patrick Vieira knows it, their players know it and their fans certainly know it judging by their reaction at full time.

Letting off flares to celebrate a fortuitous point at home against your arch rivals? And they had the nerve to call Albion supporters tin pot for going berserk when Neal Maupay hit that injury time equaliser in front of the Sainsbury’s Supermarket Stand last season.

A look at the stats from Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton tells you everything you need to know at the same time as making a bottle of vodka for breakfast appealing.

The Albion had 74 percent possession, won six corners, registered 17 shots of which seven were on target. Palace in contrast had one corner, seven efforts on goal and only one on target.

That they scored from that single chance was down to Sanchez making one of the most jaw-dropping errors ever seen from a Brighton goalkeeper.

Michael Olise delivered a free kick which was harmlessly sailing into the arms of Sanchez under zero pressure. Sanchez though took his eye off the ball, let a routine catch slip out of his grasp straight to James Tomkins who put the ball into the empty net.

Whilst it is true that the error would not have mattered had the Albion put away more than one of their seven shots on target, there is going to come a point in the not-too-distant future where these mistakes Sanchez keeps making have to be addressed.

By the end of the season, he will have played over 100 Premier League games. He might only be 25, but he is not inexperienced.

And after so many appearances and with regular errors still happening, when do you conclude they are a part of his game rather than something he will grow out of?

A club with aspirations of challenging for Europe every year need better than a goalkeeper who fans simply accept is going to make one or two mistakes a game.

If Sanchez cuts them out between now and the end of the season, happy days. If they keep happening, Roberto De Zerbi may face an interesting summer when it comes to deciding what to do on the goalkeeper front.

At the other end, Alexis Mac Allister was the main guilty party when it came to missed chances. He could have had five goals himself having been pushed into the number 10 role by De Zerbi with Gross and the returning Moises Caicedo behind.

See what we mean about some black magic taking place on behalf of Palace fans? Only witchcraft could turn the most dependable player in this Albion squad and a World Cup winner into Billy Paynter for 90 minutes of Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton.

Mac Allister’s first chance saw him roll a weak shot from a good position on the angle straight at Vicente Guaita. He then curled a right footed effort from outside the box which the Palace goalkeeper pushed away with a third opportunity of the first half being blocked by Nathaniel Clyne.

Into the second half and Mac Allister put a free header from six yards out wide following a pinpoint corner from Pascal Gross before getting on the end of a Pervis Estupinan cross to volley straight at Guaita.

In addition to all those Mac Allister chances, Kaoru Mitoma cut inside in the first half to pull a sprawling save from Guaita and Deniz Undav was denied by a fine tackle when Solly March tricked his way to the by-line and pulled back late in the game.

Then we come to VAR, for which some serious sheep’s blood at Stonehenge must have been drunk by the Selhurst faithful to influence. Actually, scrap that. VAR is just shit without the need for any Mesolithic rituals.

Estupinan was adjudged by those at Stockley Park to have been offside when latching onto a Gross pass and beating Guaita with 31 minutes on the clock.

Except the Sherlock Holmes drawing the lines used the incorrect defender to deem Estupinan in an illegal position, working from the second-last red and blue shirt rather than the last man.

Those in power admitted as much on Saturday evening. On the same day, VAR forgot to use lines to see whether Ivan Toney was in an offside position when equalising for Brentford in their 1-1 draw at Arsenal.

Incorrect lines in one game have cost Brighton two precious points in their quest for Europe. No lines in another have cost Arsenal two precious points in their quest for the title. The only conclusion anyone can draw is that VAR in England is not fit for purpose.

There was nothing VAR could do to find a reason for chalking off the 63rd minute March goal which gave Brighton the lead they deserved.

Estupinan came on another charge forward, whipping in a dangerous cross which bounced in front of Tyrick Mitchell, leaving March to volley home at the back post.

In a sign of what the Palace v Brighton rivalry can do to even the most placid and polite of players, March put his fingers to his lips as he celebrated in front of the Palace support.

A particularly sweet goal for March no doubt, whose dreams of becoming a professional footballer were initially crushed by Palace when they released him as a kid.

It was not until March was 17-years-old and playing in the Isthmian League for Lewes that Brighton picked him up and gave him a second opportunity.

Thank God they did. March now has five goals in his last seven appearances having scored only three times in three-and-a-half seasons under Glow Up Graham Potter.

When De Zerbi took the Albion job, we knew his track record meant to expect an improved output from Brighton’s wingers. Nobody though could have dreamt of the difference he would make to March and Mitoma.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton was one of Mitoma’s quietest matches as an Albion player in terms of game changing moments.

The Seagulls failed to get him into it enough and to be fair to Palace, they did a decent job of double marking the Japanese threat.

And perhaps that is the thing we should take away from Selhurst. Not the slippery hands of Sanchez, those robbing bastards on VAR or the Albion’s wastefulness in front of goal.

Instead, focus on the fact that the only way Palace could think to play against Brighton was to double mark and try and defend their way to a point.

Never in the 50-odd years of the Eagles and Seagulls rivalry have Brighton been so far ahead of Palace in every possible department.

Stadium, infrastructure, style of play, squad profile, manager, recruitment, owner. Think of an area to compare the two football clubs and Brighton are better at it.

The gap in the Premier League standings is 10 points with the Albion having a game in hand. Brighton have won four more games than Palace, scored 19 more goals and are receiving – and in the case of Moises Caicedo, fending off – bids of over £60 million for their players.

Whilst those Palace fans whose wardrobe consists of an £8 black hoody from Primark unfurl cringe worthy banners saying “Channel the energy that got us here”, Brighton supporters are checking the results of Spurs and Chelsea to see how the top six is shaping up and looking at places to stay in Azerbaijan for autumn 2023.

It may have finished Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton (again) but only one of these clubs are going places. And it isn’t the ones whose fans have to resort to burning incense and offering up a pig when the sun rises on the solstice in exchange for fluking a draw.