Wilfred Zaha’s first Premier League double helped Crystal Palace to a 3-2 win over Brighton on Saturday afternoon, as they continue to stave off relegation.
It was an all action first half between these two fierce rivals, with all five goals coming before the break. James Tomkins was also on the scoresheet for the hosts, while Glenn Murray and Jose Izquierdo gave the Seagulls hope.
Here are four talking points from Selhurst Park as Palace moved six points clear of the bottom three.
Palace’s talisman Zaha starred from the beginning again
Nerves will have been jangling in the home end at Selhurst Park, even before this huge game kicked off. Just three points separated Crystal Palace from the relegation zone and, for long periods, it looked like Southampton would close the gap with a win over Chelsea at lunchtime, putting Roy Hodgson’s men in the bottom three on goal difference. The Blues turned it around at St Mary’s and, just five minutes in, the hosts were celebrating, and there are no prizes for guessing who opened the scoring. Zaha may only have seven Premier League goals this season, but Palace are so reliant on him in every sense. Poor marking from Brighton allowed the Ivory Coast international to tap home from close range.
It’ll be tough to see how the Eagles deal with the inevitable interest in their star man this summer; he was at the heart of another explosive start alongside Andros Townsend. Brighton just couldn’t handle Palace from set pieces, though, and nine minutes after the opener, Tomkins took advantage of some more static defending; his header from Yohan Cabaye’s corner was blocked by Mat Ryan, but the danger wasn’t cleared and he was able to poke home.
The frantic pace from the early stages wouldn’t subside, and neither did Zaha’s positive impact; moments after Murray pulled one back for Brighton, he latched onto a lovely floated pass by Luka Milovojevic to restore their two-goal lead with not even 25 minutes on the clock.
Defensive issues plagued both sides all afternoon
Chris Hughton will have been livid watching his side fail to deal with almost all the problems posed to them in the first half; his success with the Seagulls has been built on a strong back line, with Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk arguably their best players this season. But it is not hard to see why Palace have not been able to shake the looming threat of relegation despite playing some great football under Hodgson, both this afternoon and across the season as a whole; their defensive problems threatened to undo their good work again. They were cruising at 2-0, and again at 3-1, but Brighton continued to hang in there, frustrating some great play going forward for Palace.
Murray, who has been a real bright spark for Hughton’s men this season, netted their first of the day, hooking in Dunk’s header from a corner, before Izquierdo, who seemed set on one-upping Zaha, made it 3-2. The Colombian winger was a constant threat on the counter attack, having gone close just before he scored; Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho and Patrick van Aanholt in the Palace defence were far from comfortable facing him. As entertaining as the game was, it was hardly a great advert for defensive strength in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Dropping Christian Benteke again was the right call by Hodgson
Had it not been for comeback kings Bournemouth snatching a late equaliser at the Vitality Stadium last weekend, Hodgson would have been vindicated for his bold selection choice. Christian Benteke is a striker who many claim is perfect for a Premier League relegation battle because he is proven at that level, but the Belgian appears to be a shadow of the player who earned such rave reviews in three seasons at Aston Villa, with just two goals to his name all season. Zaha and Townsend, two orthodox wingers, have had some success playing as a pair in tandem up front, as was the case in this game.
Dunk and Duffy are much more comfortable going into a physical battle with opponents, so they will not have been pleased to see Benteke named as a substitute. Townsend and Zaha interchanged throughout and their movement was obviously too much for the visitors.
Benteke was injured early on in Hodgson’s reign, just as Palace went on a run that saw them resurrect their survival chances in October and November; even without a recognised striker on the pitch, they look a lot more threatening than if Zaha and Townsend were out wide and Benteke was through the middle. Their £30million striker has a lot of work to do if he is to break back into the side much more this season.
Brighton’s awful away record continues
Brighton boss Hughton has done everything by the book this season; made them tough to beat, kept the tem spirit up and made the Amex Stadium a fortress. It is a good job, too, because they have rarely convinced on the road all season, with just two away wins to their name. Perhaps more worryingly, coming into this game, they had only scored seven away goals and were without so much as a point on their travels in over two months. It was bleak anyway, but conceding within five minutes will have compounded their misery; they were up against it from that moment.
In truth, the Seagulls are all but safe and won’t be worrying too much; Hughton has done a superb job on the South Coast, but he will hope he can improve results away from the Amex going into next season.
