Five Things: Crystal Palace

Seagulls beat the Eagles
Albion's victory last night was their first over Palace since the memorable 3-0 win over the Eagles back in March 2013. The rival clubs have now faced each other 98 times, the first being in 1920, with Albion winning 38 and losing 35.

VAR Stars
This was the first game that video assistant referee technology was used in a competitive English fixture. Referee Andre Marriner consulted with the VAR Neil Swarbrick in the aftermath of Glenn Murray's late winner, but did not use the pitch-side monitor because he was satisfied that Murray's goal was legitimate. Uwe Huenemeier headered tha ball back across goal towards the onrushing Murray, who steered the ball into the net. It was thought that the ball struck his hand en route to the goal, but video replays show it didn’t.

Dale Delight
Stand-in skipper Dale Stephens opened the scoring in the 25th minute with his first goal of the season, powering a shot past Wayne Hennessey from 10 yards. Midfield partner Beram Kayal joked, “We ask him to shoot more, so I'm happy for him. He has something in his right foot that just makes him want to pass!”

Reasons to be Murray
With an unwanted replay looking inevitable, Murray proved the difference. The marksman notched against his former club in Brighton blue for the first time. As for the VAR talk, Murray was insistent the goal was legitimate, “I knew that it hadn't touched my arm. I saw Uwe get up at the far stick and I knew he was going to put it back across. I just felt as if it was going to miss the target and that I needed to get something on it.”