Brighton vs Crystal Palace: Diego Gomez lobs Benitez from the halfway line, three goals in ten minutes

The seventh minute of Brighton vs Crystal Palace turned into a one-man show. After winning the ball in the centre circle, Diego Gomez turned and saw Walter Benitez well off his line: the Paraguayan dinked it over him from the halfway line. The Palace keeper raced back, retreated, jumped; the ball dropped in under the bar. Foot Mercato calls it a “50-metre lob”, the BBC keeps it simpler, from the halfway line.

Canvot had opened the scoring against his own side in the 4th minute, Gomez added his in the 7th, Yasin Ayari finished in the 10th: three goals in six minutes, 3-0 to Brighton at the break. The second half was still in progress when this piece was published.

“Goal of the season so far”

On the BBC, former striker Efan Ekoku called it “goal of the season so far”, a ball floated just over the head of Benitez from the centre circle. Shay Given saw an echo of David Beckham in it. Its author is a 23-year-old midfielder who played for Inter Miami, now number 25 at Brighton.

Brighton roll on, Palace sink

Fresh from a 4-0 European win with a rotated side on Thursday, Brighton sat third on 13 points and had not beaten their neighbours since February 2024. Our match preview still took Brighton to win at 1.63 with 1xbet, one unit at a 65% probability; by the 10th minute on Sunday, that pick was well on its way. Crystal Palace live the opposite: beaten 3-2 at Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday, the team of Pierre Sage shipped three goals in six minutes at the Amex, where some supporters are already calling for his departure, according to Foot Mercato.