Premier League referee admits he made a 'mistake' before Crystal Palace's goal against Brighton
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has revealed that referee Michael Oliver told him he made a “mistake” before Crystal Palace's first goal.
He Seagulls winless streak extended to a fourth game Palace They took home the spoils in the M23 derby with a 3-1 win on Sunday.
A first half goal from Trevoh Calobah and Ismaila SarrThe double put the visitors up 3-0, although a Marc Guehi own goal gave Brighton a late consolation.
However, Hurzeler was left fuming by the build-up that led to Chalobah's first goal.
As Crystal Palace When mounting a counterattack, referee Oliver accidentally got in the way of Carlos Baleba.
The counter-attack ended with Palace winning a corner, which was followed by another corner.
It was from the second corner that Chalobah smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give Palace the lead.
But speaking after the match, Hurzeler revealed it should never have gotten to that point thanks to Oliver's mistake.
“When the referee says after the game that it was his mistake, I don't understand why he doesn't stop the game,” Hurzeler said.
“It's incredible that something like this could happen.”
While Hurzeler might have complaints about the lead-up to Chalobah's goal, there was little to complain about regarding Sarr's brace.
Seagulls right-back Tariq Lamptey completely misjudged a high ball which allowed Palace's Tyrick Mitchell to control the ball and deliver an inviting cross which Sarr headed home.
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Lewis Dunk became the next Brighton defender to make a costly mistake when he lost a physical challenge against Eddie Nketiah.
He allowed Sarr to push aside the Seagulls captain before calmly slotting past Bart Verbruggen for Palace's third.
Nketiah had a golden opportunity to open his Premier League account for Palace after Guehi's own goal, as all of Brighton's defenders were inside the visitors' half.
However, the former Arsenal striker's shot at Verbruggen went wide of the goal.
Brighton had their chances throughout, but several superb saves from the Eagles' glove Dean Henderson kept them out.
Henderson's best save came when he made an effort with the fingertip of his left hand to deflect Julio Enciso's shot past the left post.
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The defeat to Palace marked the first time Hurzeler tasted defeat at home as Brighton manager.
It was also the first time in six games that Palace recorded a victory over Brighton in the league.
Another notable statistic to emerge from the contest was the fact that Brighton's defeat marked their 60th defeat in their last 180 Premier League games, with 60 wins and 60 draws completing the tally.
Hurzeler and his team will look to prevent their winless streak from extending into a fifth game when they travel to the capital next week.
They are now preparing for a crucial clash against West Ham United on December 21.
