Crystal Palace finished with nine men but held on to beat Brighton as Daniel Munoz’s second-half winner decided a match of three red cards at Selhurst Park.
Substitute Eddie Nketiah was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards in nine minutes, before Marc Guehi was sent off for a second bookable offence too.
Visitors Brighton themselves ended with 10 men after defender Jan Paul van Hecke was shown a red card for hauling down Daichi Kamada.
Palace had taken the lead in the third minute when striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was played in by Eberechi Eze and curled the ball excellently into the top corner.
Brighton started to build pressure and almost equalised when Dean Henderson was forced into a smart double save from Carlos Baleba before he pushed away Danny Welbeck’s follow-up.
Brighton made their pressure count and drew level in the 31st minute. Winger Yankuba Minteh curled an excellent cross into the box and Welbeck turned it in from close range, becoming the Seagulls all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League.
Colombian Munoz scored what proved to be the winner when Eze played a quality pass for him to drill a low shot into the far corner.
Second half substitute Nketiah was sent off with 12 minutes to go, collecting his second booking for a high foot on Brighton defender Van Hecke.
Then as the clock ticked towards the start of almost 14 minutes of stoppage time, Guehi followed him down the tunnel, getting his second yellow card for a late tackle on Brajan Gruda.
That wasn’t the end of the drama, though, as Van Hecke then saw red for fouling Kamada.
Palace’s victory means that they have won five of their past six matches in all competitions and are just two points from the top half of the table.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
