Palace media review

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Palace media review

How the newspapers and websites reported Sunday's 5-0 win.

Nick Szczepanik

2026-10-19T09:30+01:00

Chema Andres leads the celebrations after Albion took the lead. 📷James Boardman

Some reporters at Sunday’s 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace led on Albion equalling their biggest victory over our friends from Selhurst Park, while others chose to highlight our latest goal-of-the-month contender. But all the Monday morning reports made entertaining reading for Seagulls fans.

Ed Aarons did a little of both in The Guardian. “At last, Fabian Hurzeler has the scalp that matters most to all Brighton fans and in humiliating fashion,” he wrote. “Diego Gomez’s breathtaking goal-of-the-season contender from the halfway line, à la David Beckham, was the highlight of another hugely impressive performance from the Premier League’s top scorers as they continued their flying start to the season.

“Not since a 4-1 thrashing here in February 2024 under Roberto De Zerbi had Brighton tasted victory against their arch rivals from up the A23 – a run of four matches. But having been handed the initiative by Jaydee Canvot’s own goal, it got even worse for Pierre Sage after Brighton extended their lead through Gomez’s wonder strike and Yasin Ayari, with Charalampos Kostoulas adding a fourth after half-time and the substitute Jack Hinshelwood’s late strike matching their record 5-0 win over Palace from 1956 in Division Three South.

“[Hurzeler’s] vibrant side now find themselves in the conversation for Champions League qualification and they have a squad that also looks capable of coping with the demands of European football.

Photo 1/25

Rampant Albion benefitted from an own goal before Diego Gomez scored a world-class goal from virtually the halfway line. Yasin Ayari,made it 3-0 inside the opening ten minutes. Babis Kostoulas scored early in the second half, before Jack Hinshelwood rounded off the five-star performance in front of a jubilant North Stand. Club photographers Paul Hazlewood, James Boardman and Simon Roe captured the action on a memorable afternoon at the Amex.

“They were already the division’s top scorers with efforts from outside the box this season with four. Gómez’s strike from 51 metres was the Premier League goal from the furthest out since Wayne Rooney scored from 58 metres for Everton against West Ham in November 2017.”

the Daily Mail reported that “the game kicked off in a rainstorm of biblical proportions and Palace were swept away, the final score equalling Brighton’s biggest victory over their rivals.

“Brighton won the September goal of the month award thanks to a 25-yard thunderbolt from captain Lewis Dunk, and his teammate Gomez must surely be favourite for the October award. The ball was just crossing the half-way line when the Paraguay midfielder looked up and drove it fiercely goalwards, catching goalkeeper Walter Benitez far enough off his line to have no chance of getting back.

"This was no Beckhamesque lob, but a blast that succeeded through its power as much as its height and shock value, and it made him Brighton’s 11th different scorer in the league this season.”

Tim Wigmore waxed even more lyrical over Gomez’s goal in the Daily Telegraph, writing that “Brighton are entitled to dream of history. Whatever happens between now and May, one accolade is surely their own: the goal of the season award.

“Diego Gomez’s 56-yard strike will instantly become the stuff of Brighton lore. The Paraguayan’s effort will be even more cherished for coming in this 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace.

“Gomez’s goal was a triumph of the imagination. Receiving a gentle pass from Olivier Boscagli just inside his own half, his scanning of the pitch revealed both that goalkeeper Walter Benitez was off his line and that Brighton’s attacking players were tightly guarded by defenders. And so, just as he entered the attacking half, he attempted the absurd.

“The presence of mind to attempt something so outlandish was one thing: the execution was quite another. Gomez took just one touch before taking his shot, before the goalkeeper could scramble back to cover his line. As he looked up to confirm the opportunity, Gomez drove the ball with such venom that the ball did not even bounce until it reached the net.

“All that remained was to hurtle towards the corner flag, engulfed by his ecstatic teammates. For Brighton’s soaked fans, rain can never have tasted so sweet.”

And yes, there were four other goals, as Charlie Gordon reminded us in The Sun. “The Seagulls put three past the floundering Palace players in the opening 10 minutes – with two going in off the unfortunate Jaydee Canvot – before continuing their relentless punishment with two more after the break,” he wrote.

“Many Eagles fans who cut their losses and darted for the exit will have been halfway back to South London by the time the final whistle blew.

“Brighton fans chanted ‘sacked in the morning’ at manager Fabian Hurzeler when they lost this fixture in February. How times have changed. The German has this team absolutely purring.

“The 35-year-old Pascal Gross again pulled the strings from deep as the technicians ahead of him passed, dribbled and moved like a well-oiled machine.

“Brighton were so direct and incisive when they turned the ball over – Palace simply could not live with them.

“Hurzeler’s men are the division’s top scorers and great entertainers – not that Palace fans enjoyed the show.

“The onslaught began in the fourth minute when Gross – the league’s assist leader – swung in a wicked right-footed free-kick from the left-hand side.

“In a moment of panic, 20-year-old Canvot seemingly felt that he had to get something on it. But in doing so he diverted the ball straight past Walter Benitez.

“The fallout from that early haymaker was still reverberating around the Amex when Gomez landed the most spectacular knockout punch.

“Palace had no answers for Brighton’s slick, one-touch attacking and in the blink of an eye, Charalampos Kostoulas’ clever backheel was left by Gross and hit by Ayari. It took a big nick off Canvot on its way into the bottom corner but mercifully for the Frenchman he was not credited with a second own goal.

“Kostoulas got his goal shortly after the restart, when Ayari’s shot was blocked by Ahanor, leaving him with an easy finish from close range. Jack Hinshelwood added a fifth when Benitez parried Luka Vuskovic’s header into his path after a Brighton corner, compounding the visitors’ misery.”

On the BBC website, Michael Emons wrote that “the Seagulls had drawn one and lost three of their past four matches against the Eagles, but this result was wrapped up inside the opening 10 minutes.

“It was the earliest a side had scored three goals in a Premier League game since Newcastle in their 6-1 win over Tottenham in April 2023."