Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: Gómez’s halfway-line stunner crowns devastating derby win

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Diego Gómez scored from the halfway line as Brighton overwhelmed Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Amex, taking a three-goal lead inside 10 minutes and climbing to second in the Premier League.

Jaydee Canvot’s own goal began a disastrous afternoon for Palace before Gómez supplied the outstanding moment. Yasin Ayari added the third, with Charalampos Kostoulas and substitute Jack Hinshelwood completing the scoring after half-time.

Gómez’s audacity will dominate the replays, but Brighton’s victory was built on more than one extraordinary finish. Palace conceded before his strike, conceded again almost immediately afterwards and never recovered.

Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: three goals in 10 minutes

The breakthrough came after four minutes when Canvot headed Pascal Gross’s free-kick into his own net.

Three minutes later, Gómez turned an already difficult start into something considerably worse for the visitors. Receiving the ball from Olivier Boscagli, he spotted Walter Benítez away from his line and sent a remarkable effort over the goalkeeper from around halfway.

Palace had barely absorbed that blow when Ayari made it 3-0 in the 10th minute, finishing from Kostoulas’s assist.

Brighton had established a commanding advantage before the contest had properly settled. For Palace, the task had already changed from competing for the points to preventing further damage.

Kostoulas and Hinshelwood keep Brighton moving

Palace reached half-time without conceding again, but the respite lasted only four minutes after the restart.

Kostoulas scored Brighton’s fourth in the 49th minute, with the goal confirmed following a VAR review. Having helped create Ayari’s finish, the forward now had a goal of his own.

Jefferson Lerma struck the post with a header in the 74th minute, but Palace could not even find the consolation of ending Brighton’s clean sheet.

Hinshelwood then completed the scoring from close range following a corner in the 84th minute. Introduced for Gross, he ensured Brighton’s substitutes contributed to an afternoon their starting side had seized so emphatically.

Brighton move second before Arsenal play

Victory takes Fabian Hürzeler’s team to 16 points from seven matches, moving them above Arsenal before the Gunners’ later fixture at Nottingham Forest. Manchester City remain five points ahead.

For Brighton, this was a derby victory with consequences beyond local bragging rights: another three points to sustain their place among the early leaders.

Palace leave with seven points and an opening 10 minutes that demands examination. Gómez produced something exceptional, but the goals around it exposed problems that cannot be explained away by one moment of brilliance.

See the confirmed Brighton–Palace line-ups and our Premier League table for the wider picture.

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