Brighton crush Crystal Palace 5-0 as Diego Gomez's 51-metre stunner headlines Amex rout
Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: Gomez's 51-metre stunner headlines Amex rout
Brighton & Hove Albion produced one of the most emphatic performances of the Premier League season so far, thrashing bitter rivals Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Amex Stadium in the M23 derby on Sunday.
Diego Gomez scored "one of the all-time great Premier League goals" as Brighton surged to victory, with the Seagulls 3-0 up inside 10 minutes at the Amex Stadium.
Jaydee Canvot turned into his own net in the fourth minute to hand Brighton the opener, before Gomez caught Walter Benitez off his line, striking from just inside Palace's half to send "an audacious attempt in over the stranded visiting goalkeeper." Yasin Ayari added a third with a deflected strike that left Palace "shellshocked on the south coast."
Second-half dominance
Palace's already slender hopes of a comeback were extinguished just four minutes after the break, with Charalampos Kostoulas turning home from Ayari's deflected pass. Honest Ahanor crucially blocked Gomez's stinging volley before Ferdi Kadioglu saw a fierce first-time strike tipped over the bar as Brighton pressed for more.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta should have dragged Palace onto the scoresheet when he was left unchallenged to get a shot off, but the France international's effort struck the crossbar. Jefferson Lerma then saw a header clip the post after he met Adam Wharton's centre, and Palace's misery was compounded in the 84th minute. Luka Vuskovic met a deep cross and headed it back over for Jack Hinshelwood, who was on hand to nudge beyond Benitez and cap a sparkling Brighton display.
Gomez's long-range special one to remember
Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Gomez's goal ranks as the eighth longest-range in the Premier League, at 51.3 metres. It is the furthest out from which a goal has been scored in the competition since Wayne Rooney (57.7m) for Everton against West Ham in November 2017. But Gomez has been trying his luck from distance plenty during his time at Brighton. The Paraguayan has already tallied up four attempts from over 50m out in the Premier League, though this is the first one to result in a goal.
Record-breaking start
Brighton are the ninth side in Premier League history to score three goals in the first 10 minutes of a match, and first since Newcastle United against Tottenham in April 2023. They have already scored more Premier League goals this season than at any previous stage of a campaign in the top four tiers. Indeed, only Barcelona have scored more goals than the Seagulls across Europe's big-five leagues this term (39).
Brighton's last four league wins have come by an aggregate score of 15-0. This was Fabian Hürzeler's first victory over Palace, with Leicester City the only one of 29 opponents that he has failed to beat across all competitions as Brighton boss (P2 D2).
Palace, meanwhile, have already shipped 17 league goals this term, with the Eagles last conceding more at this stage of a season in the top four tiers in 1980-81 (21), and the pressure may well be mounting on Pierre Sage.