News – UK – Christian Bentekes last breath Crystal Palace winners stunned Brighton

Brighton 1-2 Crystal Palace: Eagles have struck the perfect stroke and are grabbing to ward off fear of relegation

Substitute Christian Benteke struck home a dramatic late volley when Crystal Palace scored a 2-1 win at bitter rivals Brighton

The Belgian striker hit Andros Townsend’s cross in the fifth minute of stoppage time to bring Palace back to winning ways after successive defeats that had led to growing unrest among supporters

Brighton dominated the action at Amex Stadium, beating Joel Veltman after the Eagles took the lead at halftime thanks to an excellent French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta who stormed the French

Palace showed little ambition for much of the game and tried again to create in the absence of the injured talisman Wilfried Zaha, with the two outstanding goals being their only attempts at scoring

But Eagles manager Roy Hodgson will be more than satisfied with a result that brings his team 10 points over the relegation zone

The defeat for the hosts stops their unbeaten record in the Premier League after six games and gives rise to hopes of overtaking their fiercest opponents for the first time this season

Graham Potter’s men are only four points away from the bottom three after failing to use their superiority

Out of contract this summer, Hodgson urged fans to “be careful” of what they asked for ahead of the game after a banner questioning the club’s vision just before theirs Training area was displayed

Once again without star Zaha, who scored seven career goals against the Seagulls, the former England coach made five changes after the 3-0 home loss to Burnley, including a second start for Mateta and a fall by Benteke against the bench

In Form Brighton controlled the opening exchanges, but was in the 28 Minute, when Mateta, who was loaned from Mainz, wasted little time trying to make himself popular with Palace fans

After being released on the right by a searching pass from Cheikhou Kouyate, Jordan Ayew scored a low cross that allowed Mateta to score his first Eagles goal, holding back Ben White and a great finish on the turn scored

The delightful opposing opener came completely against the course of the game and ignited a cage-like opening phase with no significant chances

Unchanged Albion, sustained by recent victories against Leeds, Tottenham and Masters Liverpool, monopolized the ball despite struggling to create and fail to test Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita

Palace beat Brighton 1-0 in their last game at Amex Stadium before their first national suspension last February

All hopes of repeating this exact score were lifted within 10 minutes of the restart as the introduction of halftime replacement Danny Welbeck had the desired effect

The former English striker deflected a presentable early chance off target before he was heavily involved in the leveler

Pascal Gross’ shot from distance was blocked by Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell as he fought with Welbeck in the penalty area The loose ball kindly fell for Dutch defender Veltman, who scored his first Seagulls goal in the lower right corner

Leandro Trossard and Welbeck were unable to force their way home during hand-to-hand combat, while visitors survived more pinball machines in their area

Albion took a well-deserved point at Selhurst Park in October thanks to a last-minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw and looked like they would have to settle for a similar result here

Townsend was given too much space on the left flank, and although his flank initially appeared too high, it dropped off perfectly so that the unmarked Benteke could thunder the ball back into the far corner

The late drama sparked cheers on the palace bench while the frustrated Brighton – who had 25 shots at three of his opponents – had to lick their wounds

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Crystal Palace FC., Brighton & Hove Albion FC., Premier League, Christian Benteke, Roy Hodgson