Brighton & Hove Albion fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon at Selhurst Park, with all five goals coming in the first half.
The hosts had taken a two-goal lead until Glenn Murray halved the deficit, before Wilfried Zaha headed the home side another, only for Jose Izquierdo to get himself on the scoresheet before the break – we’ve picked out five key moments of a dramatic contest.
FAST HOME START
The hosts made a quick start to the game and found themselves two goals ahead inside the opening 14 minutes of the contest.
Wilfried Zaha poked in from close range following a corner, before James Tomkins fired home through a crowd of bodies 11 minutes later in a tough start to the game for Chris Hughton’s side.
MURRAY NOTCHES
Albion’s top scorer this season grabbed his 14th goal in all competitions for the campaign in the opening period of the game.
Lewis Dunk headed a Pascal Gross corner towards the far post, and the forward volleyed into the roof of the net to hand the Seagulls a way back into the match.
ZAHA HEADER
Home captain Luka Milivojevic floated a cross to the far post and Zaha beat Ezequiel Schelotto to the ball to head past Maty Ryan and restore his side’s two-goal advantage.
JOSE’S LIFELINE
In a breathtaking first half, the fifth and final goal was scored by Albion’s Jose Izquierdo.
The Colombian winger latched onto an intelligent through ball from Jurgen Locadia, and the fleet-footed winger skipped away from Joel Ward and bent the ball past Wayne Hennessey and into the far bottom corner to complete the scoring for the opening period – it was the greatest number of first-half goals in any Premier League game this season.
SECOND HALF CHANCES
The Seagulls created numerous opportunities to fashion an equaliser in the second half at Selhurst Park but could not find a way past Hennessey in the home goal.
Murray had the side’s best two openings. The first saw the forward fire back across goal after he’d met a Beram Kayal cross at the far post, and then latched onto substitute’s Leonardo Ulloa’s flick and met the ball on the volley – but couldn’t quite direct his shot on goal.