Munoz strike gives nine-man Palace 2-1 win over Brighton

Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler is disappointed that his side doesn't manage to get at least a point

Premier League - Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - Apr 5, 2025 Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta scores their first goal REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

Crystal Palace winger Daniel Munoz netted a second-half winner as they secured a 2-1 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, with Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guehi shown red cards and Brighton's Jan Paul van Hecke also sent off late on.

Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had already fired wide from an offside position, needed a little more than two minutes to find the net, picking up a pass from Eberechi Eze and lashing home a dipping shot, but Brighton equalised through Danny Welbeck's close-range effort in the 31st minute.

Colombian winger Munoz got what turned out to be the winner 10 minutes into the second half, crowning a superb counter-attack by Eze with a deflected shot that flew into the net before the game descended into a flurry of late red cards.

Palace substitute Nketiah put his side in a pickle when he picked up a yellow card for diving a minute after replacing Mateta, and he was sent off nine minutes later, receiving his second yellow for a recklessly high challenge on Van Hecke.

The chaos continued for the home side as Maxence Lacroix was forced off late on with a suspected concussion that contributed to 12 minutes of stoppage time. He was quickly joined in the dressing room by Guehi, who was shown a second yellow for a studs-up challenge.

Brighton's two-man advantage was short-lived, however, as Van Hecke picked up his second yellow for a foul on Daichi Kamada in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The visitors could have grabbed a point, but Yasin Ayari's late shot was saved brilliantly by Dean Henderson as Palace managed to hang on and moved to 11th spot in the standings on 43 points, four behind eighth-placed Brighton.

"It was phenomenal, the lads were in the trenches at the end - going down to nine men, you have to dig deep and build relationships, no one knew what positions they were playing but they were throwing bodies in the way of shots. I'm speechless. It's fantastic," Henderson said.

Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler was disappointed that his side didn't manage to get at least a point.

"It was very wild, we couldn't control it at the end. We weren't able to find the right solution. The hunger was bigger from Palace - we made again a silly mistake and got the red card, we did too many easy mistakes," the German coach said.