Late strike seals win for Palace

Brighton 2 Crystal Palace 3

Crystal Palace substitute Jobi McAnuff struck a last minute winner to clinch a thrilling 3-2 derby day win over a brave Brighton side in the Coca-Cola Championship.

A brace from Eagles striker Dougie Freedman saw Palace twice come from behind and Leon Knight’s superb two-goal performance for Brighton was rendered irrelevant by McAnuff’s 94th-minute finish.

Freedman took his Palace goals tally past the 100 mark with a first half header to cancel out Knight’s clever opener and a powerful second half drive, which restored parity after Knight converted a penalty.

Just as the spoils looked set to be shared, McAnuff drilled home from the edge of the box to seal a fine away win for Iain Dowie’s men.

An entertaining first half began with Brighton’s Alexandre Frutos carving out an opening with some trickery, only to fire his shot into the body of Fitz Hall.

Brighton goalkeeper Alan Blayney then blundered as he handled the ball outside his penalty area, and was lucky to escape with just a warning.

Knight tormented the visiting defenders with his wily runs and when his cross found Jake Robinson sliding into the penalty area, the striker went agonisingly close to opening the scoring.

Clinton Morrison squandered the best of Palace’s early chances, flicking the ball over the crossbar when Ben Watson landed a corner perfectly onto his head.

With Palace enjoying the better of an end-to-end encounter, Morrison broke clear of the Seagulls’ defence and cut the ball back for Watson, who drilled a low effort just wide of Blayney’s post.

All the Eagles’ good early work was undone when they lost possession in midfield and Frutos beat Emmerson Boyce all ends up.

His low cross was sent goalwards in a moment of inspiration from Knight, whose deft flick deceived Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and found the net at the far post.

The visitors hit back within five minutes, when Reich found Morrison on the edge of the box and the Irishman clipped a cross into the danger zone, where Freedman made no mistake with his header past Blayney.

The first half ended with tempers flared, as Hall and Dean Hammond clashed in the Palace box, resulting in bookings for the Eagles defender and Brighton striker Robinson.

After the break, Brighton refused to let Palace settle and the home side’s attacking endeavour was rewarded when they were given a penalty after the linesman spotted a push on Robinson by Palace defender Gary Borrowdale in the area.

Kiraly looked to have saved Knight’s spot-kick, but the ball somehow squirmed under his body to restore Brighton’s lead.

Once again, Palace wasted no time in grabbing an equaliser, as Reich opened Brighton up with yet another probing run and his pass found Freedman, who jinked onto his right foot before drilling an angled shot past Blayney.

Neither side allowed the tempo drop as a winner was desperately sought in the final half hour, and the introduction of Wayne Andrews gave Palace a late boost.

As the visitors pressed in the fourth minute of injury time, McAnuff latched onto Morrison’s pass and broke Brighton hearts with a clinical low drive.