Brighton’s 90th-minute equalizer nets deserved point at Palace
Palace #Palace
Crystal Palace – Brighton: Brighton and Hove Albion got long-awaited luck with a deserved late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in an M23 Derby at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Alexis Mac Allister’s 90th-minute goal finally provided the Seagulls an answer to Wilfried Zaha’s early conversion of a controversial Michy Batshuayi-won penalty that withstood VAR review.
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Brighton out-attempted Palace 20-1 and it was attempt 18 that found the back of the goal.
Lewis Dunk was sent off in stoppage time for a desperate grimy challenge on Gary Cahill in the Palace box.
Palace is now 2W-1D-2L on the season, good for seven points, while Brighton’s 1W-1D-3L mark has it 16th.
Three things we learned from Crystal Palace – Brighton
1. Grey area penalty puts Palace ahead: Michy Batshuayi hit the deck with Tariq Lamptey’s arm on his shoulder as he couldn’t rise to meet a Jairo Riedewald cross from the right and a penalty was awarded to the Palace attacker. Batshuayi certainly went down easily but VAR could not find a clear and obvious error in the awarding of the call. It’s one of those calls that probably wouldn’t have been reversed if the call was made the other way, either. Brighton would have to come back.
2. A turn of luck for the Seagulls: Earlier this season, we wrote about Brighton’s amazing bad fortune in finishing chances and expected goals. It did not improve for most of the match but fortune finally smiled on the Seagulls in the 90th minute. Palace had one shot attempt and just 33 percent of the ball but the score line stalled at 1-0 on the dicey penalty until Mac Allister’s shot took a big deflection to beat Guaita. Totally deserved equalizer arrives in funny fashion? On brand for this silly 2020-21 PL season.
3. Captain Cahill strong in return: Gary Cahill was the victim of Dunk’s brutal stoppage-time tackle, an unjust reward for a very good day with four clearances, two interceptions, two blocked shots, and 7-of-11 duels won (SofaScore).
Man of the Match
Jairo Riedewald — Playing in the middle of the park, the 24-year-old Dutchman just edges Brighton’s Leandro Trossard in our eyes. Riedewald completed his first 23 passes before missing one late. He made two tackles plus a blocked shot and interception in locking down the heart of the pitch against a lively Brighton
Crystal Palace – Brighton recap
Adam Lallana had the first chance of the game and blazed over the bar.
Palace answered with a goal from the spot after a penalty was controversially awarded to Michy Batshuayi, who went down a bit easy under contact from Tariq Lamptey while trying to reach a cross.
Zaha converted the penalty for 1-0 and it stayed that way into the break.
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Brighton, as it does, continued to play good football without reward.
Neal Maupay had two early second chances lead only to corners, a near-post bid deflected out before a dribble around several players was blocked out a few minutes later.
Batshuayi saw a second goal chalked off for offside in a decision nearly as razor-thin as the one against Liverpool’s Sadio Mane on Saturday, though Batshuayi was actually racing into the play unlike the Merseyside derby call.
A 65th-minute flash point between Lamptey and Tyrick Mitchell threatened to see an explusion but Stuart Atwell decided against a second yellow to Lamptey and gave the more aggressive Mitchell a yellow
Brighton’s 90th-minute equalizer nets deserved point at Palace originally appeared on NBCSports.com