Of course erratic Brighton saved worst display for Palace

When I was asked for what I thought might happen with Brighton playing Crystal Palace, I sat back and pondered before realising I had absolutely no idea.

The Albion have been so erratic for much of this season so far that they have become impossible to predict. And unfortunately, it turned out they had saved their worst performance of the season so far for facing Palace of all teams.

It was a cloudy, dull winter’s afternoon at the Amex. But at least it was not raining or bitterly cold. That would have made the experience even more miserable. Always look for the silver linings and all that…

On the subject of positives, a quick glance at the Premier League table gives further cause for optimism. Six points separate 10 teams. If Brighton veer to a good run of form soon, anything can happen. All is far from lost, which is why we must keep the faith.

The nicest thing about Brighton 1-3 Palace for me was seeing a neighbour’s young soon be an Albion mascot. Master Challon walked out with Jan Paul van Hecke before the game amongst all the pyrotechnics and fireworks which greeted the teams onto the pitch.

Lewis Dunk led the way and there has been a lot written and spoken about the Albion captain since the Palace defeat. It seems obvious there is a problem at the back currently and that the defence looked tighter with Igor Julio alongside Van Hecke and Joel Veltman at right back.

Also walking onto the Amex turf before the game was Diego Gomez, who will be able to play officially for Brighton from January 1st 2025 after his signing from MLS side Inter Miami.

Gomez is a 21-year-old midfielder and is good mates with his compatriot Julio Enciso. Might we see a great Paraguayan pairing evolve for the Albion come the new year?

Kick off was preceded by a blast of Sussex by the Sea and the atmosphere was great. Brighton fed off that and started well.

A quick overhead flick from Joao Pedro put Kauro Mitoma in on goal. Mitoma’s shot to the near post was well saved by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Next came a ball lofted through the middle by Van Hecke. It dropped nearly perfectly for Yankubu Minteh, who was now on goal and facing a looming Henderson.

As Henderson charged from his line, his foot got some of the ball and some of Minteh’s head. Referee Michael Oliver waved play on.

Palace took the lead just before the half hour mark when Trevor Chalobah bundled home a scrappy goal after Brighton failed to clear a corner.

For me, that set the tone for what was to come. Just six minutes later and Palace scored again. They even had chances to net before Ismaila Sarr doubled the lead, Bart Verbruggen making two great saves in quick succession.

Then Tyrick Mitchell crossed straight onto the head of Sarr, leaving Brighton to traipse into half time 2-0 behind.

The Albion had been far too slow moving the ball and were signposting everything they were going to do. Julio Enciso came on and did at least introduce a bit of pace and urgency.

Dunk saw a header parried away by Henderson, who went onto make two terrific saves from Enciso. Not that Brighton deserved anything from the game, really.

Palace actually put the ball in the Albion net on five occasions. One was ruled out for a foul on Estupinan and another for being miles offside.

The officials were unable to save Brighton conceding a third when Sarr went raving through as the game entered its final 10 minutes.

Albion fans began to leave in their droves at that point, although there was at least a Brighton goal to cheer before the end. Or to be accurate, a Palace own goal.

Estupinan curled a brilliant corer in from the right. A spot of bagatelle broke out in the box and Marc Guehi very kindly put the Seagulls on the scoresheet.

If you look at the statistics, Brighton had 65.1 percent possession and 34 touches in the box compared to 23 for Palace.

Yet all that matters in a game like this is the final score. And in that department, the Albion were second best.

It feeds into an important run of games against West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa leading up to welcoming Arsenal to the Amex in the New Year.

Brighton can either jump up the ladder or drop as low as 14th if other clubs find the sort of form currently deserting the Albion.

The only thing we can say with certainty? That it is impossible predicting what Brighton will do next.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony