James Tomkins accepts gift from Robert Sánchez to earn Crystal Palace a point
This battle between bitter enemies turned into a tale of two Spanish goalkeepers as Robert Sánchez’s gaffe gifted Crystal Palace a point after Vicente Guaita had kept them alive with a string of fine saves.
Brighton looked like they could be heading towards their first victory over Palace in nearly four years and within striking distance of fifth-placed Spurs when Solly March finally found a way past Guaita with a well-taken finish just after the hour mark. But Sánchez’s awful mistake when he dropped Michael Olise’s free-kick and allowed James Tomkins to equalise on a rare start for the veteran defender denied Roberto De Zerbi’s side and ensured this fixture at Selhurst Park finished as a 1-1 draw for a fourth successive time.
“We are frustrated but at the same time we have to be proud because we are playing fantastic football,” said De Zerbi. “It was one of the best performances since I came here. If we continue like this we can fight for a place in Europe.”
While Palace have still yet to win here since October and struggled to contain the visitors at times, at least Patrick Vieira’s side had the satisfaction of frustrating high-flying Brighton on an occasion that is never for the faint-hearted. The visitors dominated possession throughout but the returning Alexis Mac Allister was guilty of missing a trio of gilt-edged chances that could have made this a comfortable victory for De Zerbi’s side.
“I’m satisfied with the point,” said Vieira. “Sometimes you have to accept the dominance of the other team and show different qualities. I’m really pleased with the hard work they showed.”
Vieira had acknowledged before the match that there could not be a better opportunity for his side to arrest their slump in form than against their archrivals from down the A23, especially given Palace’s excellent record against them stretching back to March 2019. A banner displayed by supporters in the Holmesdale Road stand before kick-off requested the homes side to “channel the energy that got us here” in reference to the approaching 10th anniversary of their promotion to the Premier League and their manager showed his intentions by pairing Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew in attack in the absence of the injured Wilfried Zaha.
Resuming his partnership with Moisés Caicedo in central midfield after the latter’s dalliance with Arsenal, Mac Allister was perhaps fortunate not to receive a stiffer punishment than a yellow card for catching Cheick Doucouré on the shin early on. The Argentina World Cup winner then spurned the first two real chances of the game, firing straight at Guaita after being set up by March before the goalkeeper pushed away another shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Guaita had to be even more alert to save Kaoru Mitoma’s curling effort following a flowing move down the left flank before Adam Webster nodded just wide from March’s deep free kick.
Palace supporters began to voice their frustrations as Will Hughes went into the book for a clattering challenge on Pascal Gross. But it was Brighton’s fans who were next to feel aggrieved when Pervis Estupiñán saw his goal ruled out by VAR after the assistant referee had initially kept his flag down, with De Zerbi and his staff incensed by the marginal decision.
Palace’s escape seemed to inject new belief into their players and Mateta should have done better when Olise played him through on goal soon afterwards, only for Webster to block the Frenchman’s shot. The Brighton defender then almost handed Mateta a golden chance just before the break after losing possession in the area under pressure from Ayew but Lewis Dunk was there just in time to shut him down.
But having been a thorn in Tyrick Mitchell’s side all afternoon, it was March who was to find the breakthrough. He was quickest to react to Estupiñán’s driven cross and not even Guaita could prevent him scoring at the back post to send the away supporters into raptures. Their joy was extremely shortlived, however, when Sánchez inexplicably dropped Olise’s free kick straight into the path of Tomkins, who gladly accepted the gift.
The best chance to win late on it fell to Mac Allister after a corner from Gross found him unmarked but, once again, he could not make Palace pay.