Brighton 1-3 Crystal Palace (Guehi og 87′ | Chalobah 27′, Sarr 33′, 82′)
Crystal Palace‘s win away at Brighton had been coming for some time, I promise.
A look at the Premier League table before this weekend made it look as though Palace were in huge trouble, but the worm had turned long before their biggest win in the derby for 12 years.
Oliver Glasner’s side had lost one of their previous seven in the league, including wins over Tottenham and away at Ipswich. It was only their rotten start to the season keeping them out of mid-table.
Here, at last, was the perfect Glasner performance. They were forced to soak up pressure in the first 25 minutes as Brighton started quickly, but Marc Guehi led the defence and Dean Henderson was immaculate.
They had the legs in midfield; Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes are industrious, even if they lack some passing invention. They broke extremely quickly when given the opportunity and fashioned chances at will.
That worked because the shape now works. Rather than trying to squeeze Eddie Nketiah into the team behind the striker or dropping Jean-Philippe Mateta to accommodate the new signing, Glasner is playing Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr as the two behind the striker and giving them the licence to drift and create.
This works so well because the wing-backs are back in form. Daniel Munoz repeatedly looks to get forward – he was unfortunate to have a goal ruled out for a touch-and-go foul that was never going to be overturned by VAR. Tyrick Mitchell is not a natural attacking threat, but his delivery for Sarr’s header was exquisite. Things are looking up.