March earns Brighton win as Palace worries deepen
Sports
Brighton eased to a 1-0 victory against arch-rivals Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
BRIGHTON (Reuters) - Brighton and Hove Albion maintained their push to qualify for Europe with a 1-0 victory against arch-rivals Crystal Palace to move level with Liverpool in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Solly March's goal after 15 minutes proved enough for the seventh-placed hosts as they moved to 42 points, the same as Liverpool but having played one game less.
Brighton have now won 12 league games this season, equalling their own top-flight record, and are only six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand.
Palace's struggles in front of goal were evident again as they failed to take three early chances with Odsonne Edouard heading a glorious opportunity wide and Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise also guilty of wastefulness.
Patrick Vieira's side are now without a goal in their last four games, without a victory in 2023 and despite being 12th in the table are only three points above the relegation zone.
Brighton continue to impress under manager Roberto De Zerbi and after Palace's initial flurry they controlled the game.
They have now picked up 18 points in the Premier League in 2023, with only Manchester City (25) and Arsenal (23) picking up more in the calendar year.
Bizarrely, considering the date, midfielder March's seventh league goal of the season from Kaoru Mitoma's incisive pass came in the 15th minute of the match.
Palace gave a debut to 19-year-old goalkeeper Joe Whitworth because of an injury to first-choice Vicente Guaita, making him the youngest keeper to appear in a Premier League game since Ben Alnwick for Sunderland in December 2005.
He acquitted himself well, but it was another night of frustration for Palace at the other end of the pitch.
"The problem is we don't score those goals and we don't make the right decisions in the last third," Vieira said.
"It is confidence. We had a really good game plan. We were aggressive enough but with a lack of talent at times and killer instinct and ruthlessness to put the ball in the net."
It does not get any easier for Palace with a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal looming on Sunday.
