The Seagulls’ nearly 50-mile trip down said motorway hit a major roadblock inside just five minutes, when Bart Verburggen found himself picking the ball out the back of his own net.
Starting like Aintree winner Nick Rockett out of the gates, Eberechi Eze found Jean-Philippe Mateta in behind, and the Frenchman made no mistake in thundering a left-footed effort into the top corner.
It could’ve been two soon after too, as this time Eze was the beneficiary of some quick thinking from Dean Henderson, but his effort was tipped around the post by Verbuggen.
Henderson was soon back to the day job though, producing a sensational save to deny Carlos Baleba, before getting back to his feet in double-quick time to thwart Danny Welbeck.
The Palace stopper was powerless to deny the Seagulls front man 10 minutes later though, as he broke free in the area to get a toe to Yankuba Minteh’s cross and turn it into the corner.
The game was a little stagnant after half-time and was just waiting for someone to light the touchpaper. Daniel Munoz was the man who did so, gathering Eze’s pass and firing an effort into the bottom corner, although his strike did benefit from a slight deflection.
Munoz’s strike ensured this fixture wouldn’t be ending in a sixth successive 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, but aside from the fallen record, it left Brighton needing to get back into the game for the second time of the afternoon.
At that point, Brighton never truly looked likely to force a way back into the game, despite Fabian Hurzeler making four of his allotted five substitutes soon after falling behind.
However, their chances of forcing a way back into the game did take a huge boost a little under 10 minutes from time, when Palace substitute Eddie Nketiah was shown a second yellow card after his high boot caught the head of Jan Paul van Hecke.
That set up a nervy ending at Selhurst Park, and it became even more so when Marc Guehi was also shown a second yellow card and the hosts were reduced to nine men, right before the fourth official announced there would be 12 minutes of stoppage time.
Unsurprisingly, the hosts had to withstand some incessant Brighton pressure in the closing stages – though that eased a little when Van Hecke was also dismissed for a second yellow card. From there, the Eagles stood firm to complete a first-ever top-flight double over Brighton.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
