Hürzeler outraged by referee when Ismaïla Sarr helped Crystal Palace beat Brighton | first division

If Michael Oliver is not on Oliver Glasner's Christmas card list, then the Crystal Palace The manager may want to mail one before it's too late. As the visitors struggled to get out of their own half against Brighton's attack, the referee was responsible for the crucial moment of the game midway through the first half.

Fabian Hürzeler was left incensed by Oliver's decision to allow the game to continue after Carlos Baleba was denied by the referee during a Palace break, and Trevoh Chalobah added to his misery by firing in from the corner that ultimately resulted. However, the Brighton boss was rightly disappointed at the way his team allowed emotions to get the better of them as Ismaïla Sarr scored twice to seal a memorable Palace victory over their arch-enemies that ended their record of undefeated at home this season.

Glasner's only blemish was Marc Guéhi's own goal that denied standout Dean Henderson a well-deserved clean sheet and a booking for Daniel Muñoz that rules him out of Wednesday's EFL Cup quarter-final match against Arsenal, although the jubilant away fans won't particularly. Be careful after suffering the ignominy of a 4-1 defeat here in February under Roy Hodgson.

“It's a great win because we know how important this game is to our fans,” said Glasner, whose team rose to 15th place and has lost just once in its last nine games in all competitions.

Having started so positively, this was the latest setback for Brighton against another bottom half of the table team who have proven to be their weakness so far this season. Hürzeler's team has also conceded 18 goals in its last nine games, but he criticized Oliver's decision not to stop play even though, according to the regulations, state officials must only do so if the ball hits them.

“When the referee says after the match that it was his mistake, then I don't understand why he doesn't stop the game,” he said. “So it's an incredible decision that something like this can happen here.”

These chances are never for the faint-hearted and, spurred on by their home crowd, it was Brighton who seemed most enthusiastic early on when Kaoru Mitoma fired straight at Henderson after a lovely flick over João Pedro's shoulder. The Palace goalkeeper was perhaps lucky not to be punished when he ran out of goal to clear a through ball and crashed into Yankuba Minteh. It wasn't the only time Oliver would be in the spotlight on a busy afternoon.

Glasner looked increasingly frustrated as his team found themselves penned inside their own half as they failed to overcome Brighton's aggressive press led by the colossal Baleba. It took Oliver's help to finally get the better of the Cameroonian midfielder when the referee inadvertently blocked his challenge on Eberechi Eze. Palace made the most of the resulting corner at the second attempt when Chalobah scored from close range after a mix-up in the Brighton penalty area, and Hürzeler let his feelings be known to the fourth official on the touchline.

Things could have gotten even worse for Brighton if Bart Verbruggen had not saved Muñoz well with his legs. But Palace clearly smelled blood and when marauding Tyrick Mitchell picked out Sarr at the far post to head home, the visiting supporters could not contain their joy. Meanwhile, Hürzeler seemed stunned.

Their response was to withdraw Tariq Lamptey for the second half and switch to a back three, introducing Julio Enciso from the bench. It took a block from Max Lacroix to deny Mitoma after he found space inside the penalty area. A strong save from Henderson denied Lewis Dunk's header from a free kick when it looked easier to score before the England goalkeeper was fully stretched to tip Enciso's curler around the post.

A careless back pass from Pervis Estupiñán that almost embarrassed Verbruggen would have proven terminal to Brighton's hopes of a comeback. The Ecuadorian defender committed the foul again when he was unsure of a bouncing ball and Muñoz crashed a pass from Sarr, but Oliver canceled it out due to a foul by the Senegalese striker.

Hürzeler launched the cavalry with 20 minutes remaining and substitute Brajan Gruda came close to halving the deficit with a diving free kick. But when Dunk wasted time on defense, he allowed the outstanding Sarr to score his second and ensure bragging rights belonged to the red and blue for the first time since the 2-1 victory here in February 2021.