Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: Three Goals in Six Minutes Settle the M23 Derby

Brighton & Hove Albion beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at the American Express Stadium, scoring three goals inside the opening ten minutes and adding two more after the break to turn the M23 derby into a procession.

Jaydee Canvot's fourth-minute own goal from a set piece opened the scoring, Diego Gómez doubled the lead on a fast break three minutes later, and Yasin Ayari made it three by the tenth minute. Charalampos Kostoulas scored four minutes after half-time and Jack Hinshelwood completed the rout from a corner in the 84th.

Brighton lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and Palace in a 3-4-2-1, and the shape mismatch told almost immediately. The opener came from a set piece in the fourth minute, Canvot turning the ball into his own net under pressure. Three minutes later Olivier Boscagli released Gómez on a fast break and the finish was taken right-footed. Ayari's tenth-minute strike, assisted by Kostoulas, arrived from regular play and effectively closed the match as a contest before a quarter of an hour had been played.

The first-half numbers reflected the scoreline without exaggerating it. Brighton had 57 per cent of the ball, eight shots to Palace's three, five on target to one, and 15 touches in the box to Palace's four. Palace won more duels in the opening period — 23 to 15 — but the territory and the chances were all one way.

Kostoulas was the game's most productive attacker: a goal in the 49th minute, 0.47 xG across the match, and the assist for Ayari's early strike. His second-half finish, left-footed from regular play, carried the highest open-play xG value of any Brighton goal on the day at 0.24.

Ayari finished with a goal and 0.28 xG. Gómez's goal came from a chance worth just 0.01 xG — the fast break did the work, not the shot quality. Maxim De Cuyper and Boscagli, who assisted the second, were central to Brighton's control without registering on the scoresheet.

Hinshelwood's 84th-minute header from a corner was the single highest-quality chance of the match at 0.95 xG, and it capped a set-piece performance that produced 1.08 xG for Brighton against Palace's 0.24.

Brighton's full-time xG of 1.98 split almost evenly between open play (0.90) and set plays (1.08). Palace managed 0.75 xG in total — 0.51 from open play and 0.24 from set plays — and just one shot on target across 90 minutes.

The second half followed the same pattern. Brighton had 58 per cent possession after the break, nine shots to Palace's two, and four on target to none. Palace's best spell came in the opening exchanges of the second period, but Kostoulas's goal in the 49th minute removed any lingering doubt. Brighton won 28 duels to Palace's 18 after the interval, reversing the first-half count.

By full time Brighton had 17 shots to Palace's five, nine on target to one, 28 touches in the box to ten, and 204 passes in the opposition half to Palace's 85. The 5-0 scoreline and the 1.98-0.75 xG gap tell the same story: this was not a match decided by finishing variance. Brighton created more, from more varied sources, and converted at a rate that matched the chances.

For Palace, the afternoon offered little beyond damage limitation after the tenth minute. A back three that conceded three times inside ten minutes never recovered its shape, and the midfield could not get the ball into the front line often enough to test Brighton's defence. One shot on target in a derby is the number that will sting.

Brighton's win moves them clear on the day with a performance built on early set-piece pressure, a fast-break second, and a second half controlled without ever needing to chase the game. Kostoulas's goal and assist made him the standout individual; the collective numbers made the result look inevitable long before Hinshelwood's late header.