Wilf strikes twice but Hughton says Brighton will survive
BRIGHTON boss Chris Hughton has vowed his team will still stay up despite being ripped apart by Wilfried Zaha in a relegation goalfest at raucous Selhurst Park.
Two-goal Zaha had south London rocking as he helped his side to a priceless win, with all the goals coming in a crazy first half.
The result, in which James Tomkins also netted for Palace with Glenn Murray and Jose Izquierdo replying for the visitors, could have a massive impact on the final table.
It leaves Palace six points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place with only five games to go.
They are also only one point behind deadly rivals Albion, who stay 13th but who now face a nightmare run-in against Tottenham, Burnley, Man United, Man City and Liverpool.
Hughton, however, is adamant his team will survive after they dominated the second half and saw Murray miss a last-gasp chance to equalise. He said: “If you are talking about staying up then we’ve always been confident. It’s a difficult period but there’s enough in our game to give us confidence we can get results.
“We produced a good secondhalf performance but the damage had already been done – if you concede three goals in the first half you don’t often come back.”
Palace boss Roy Hodgson (below) was relieved after his side hung on for a vital victory in which Zaha was outstanding.
“We died a few deaths there in the last 15 minutes,” he admitted.
“It’s just nice to come into a dressing room knowing that, yes, it could have gone pear-shaped for us in the second half, but it didn’t this time.”
The first half was filled with goals, mistakes and end-to-end football. But it also showed why both these teams are still in the relegation mix. Palace found themselves 2-0 up within 15 minutes, the first coming on five minutes when Brighton totally switched off at a short corner – allowing Luka Milivojevic to cross low from the by-line.
Albion keeper Matt Ryan palmed the effort away, but only straight into the path of Zaha to score from on the line.
The second was equally embarrassing for the visitors.
This time there was an almighty scramble in the box, including a possible handball from Dale Stephens, before Tomkins drilled the ball home.
The way Palace were going it looked like being a rout – but then suddenly they switched off, too.
A Pascal Gross corner found Lewis Dunk unmarked – and his header was hooked into the net by Murray from close range.
Before anyone could breathe, however, it was 3-1. This time Brighton failing to defend a long ball from Milivojevic and allowing Zaha to score a rare headed goal.
Once again it should have been the catalyst for Palace to ease to victory, but instead they wobbled.
With 34 minutes on the clock Jurgen Locadia sent Izquierdo away as Joel Ward fluffed his challenge – and the Colombian finished superbly, curling an effort past keeper Wayne Hennessy.
Inevitably the second half was less frenetic, and to Selhurst’s despair, Brighton took control.
Murray directed a shot agonisingly wide from a Beram Kayal cross after 59 minutes and Hennessy, who had an excellent half, saved a long-range shot from Stephens. Finally, with the clock ticking down, Murray miscued from close range when it seemed easier to score.
It makes Brighton’s match against Spurs on Tuesday hugely important.