On This Day: Eagles do the double over Seagulls (2025)
On this day (5th April) last year, Crystal Palace completed a first league double over Brighton since 1933 – and a first-ever in the top-flight – on an extraordinary afternoon at Selhurst Park.
Palace led Brighton early on when Jean-Philippe Mateta finished superbly across the goalkeeper, but the visitors hit back when Danny Welbeck produced an equaliser just after the half-hour mark.
But Muñoz struck what proved to the winner early in the second-half with a stunning finish, drilling the ball into the bottom corner.
Palace lost both Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guéhi to red cards in a frantic last 15 minutes – but the nine men managed to hold on during an extended injury time, with Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke also sent off amidst chaotic scenes which paved way for delirium at Selhurst Park.
Oliver Glasner had said in his pre-match press conference that the allure of possibly writing club history had formed part of his team talk to his players, stating: “When it's important for our fans, it means automatically that it's important for us.
“Joanne [Whittle, Head of PR and Media Relations] always briefs me very well, and I know [Palace] winning both league games hasn't been for about 90 years – the last time it was in the 1930s [the 1932/33 season].
“I told the players: ‘You can write a chapter in the Crystal Palace history books when you win the derby’. This is what it means.”
It was historic for other reasons, as well: the dramatic circumstances of the win meant that Palace became the first team in Premier League history to win a home game having received two red cards.
What's more, the victory saw Palace set a new club record for consecutive Premier League games they found the back of the net in: 12.
And in his 13th season at the club, Joel Ward made his first Premier League appearance of the season in remarkable circumstances, helping the Eagles through 12 minutes of added time with nine men.
In his final appearance with the club against their greatest rivals, Ward continued his incredible run of never having been on the losing side with Palace against Brighton.
Relive the highlights of a glorious game above!
Palace: Henderson (GK), Lacroix (Ward, 90), Guéhi, Lerma, Muñoz, Wharton (Hughes, 82), Kamada, Mitchell (Chilwell, 63), Sarr, Eze (Devenny, 82), Mateta (Nketiah, 62).
Brighton: Verbruggen (GK), Hinshelwood (Wieffer, 93), van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan (Ayari, 81), Baleba, Gomez (Gruda, 72), Minteh (March, 72), O'Riley (Pedro, 63) Mitoma (Adingra, 63) Welbeck.