BRIGHTON: Substitute Christian Benteke thumped home a dramatic last-ditch volley as Crystal Palace snatched a 2-1 victory at bitter rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League on Monday.

The Belgium striker lashed in Andros Townsend’s cross in the fifth minute of added time to return Palace to winning ways following successive defeats which had led to growing supporter unrest.

Brighton dominated proceedings at Amex Stadium and levelled through Joel Veltman after the Eagles led at halftime courtesy of a superb, back-heeled finished from French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Palace showed little ambition for much of the match and once again struggled to create in the absence of injured talisman Wilfried Zaha, with the two superb goals their only attempts on target.

Yet, Eagles manager Roy Hodgson was more than satisfied with a result which moves his side up to 13th in the standings on 32 points, 10 points above the relegation zone.

We get so hung up on statistics these days. The game is decided by goals. Goals are a question of how well you take your chances and defend theirs,” said Hodgson.

Until there are prizes for corners and touches in the box, it’s very important we keep in mind that results are borne out by goals you score and goals you don’t concede. I get no satisfaction when we lose and we have more corners or touches in their box.”

Defeat for Brighton halted their club-record Premier League unbeaten run at six games, while scuppering their hopes of leapfrogging their fiercest foes for the first time this season. Graham Potters men remain 16th on 26 points, four points clear of the relegation zone.

It is difficult, a very sore one, we did everything but get the points,” Potter told Sky Sports. They were in our box I think twice and scored two. That is the beauty of football but it doesn’t feel so beautiful at the moment, it feels painful.”

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2021