At last, Fabian Hürzeler has the scalp that matters most to all Brighton fans and in humiliating fashion. Diego Gómez's breathtaking goal-of-the-season contender from the halfway line, à la David Beckham, was the highlight of another hugely impressive performance from the Premier League's top scorers as they continued their flying start to the season.
Not since a 4-1 thrashing here in February 2024 under Roberto De Zerbi had Brighton tasted victory against their arch rivals from up the A23 – a run of four matches. But having been handed the initiative by Jaydee Canvot's own goal, a stunned Palace found themselves 3-0 down after 10 minutes. It got even worse for Pierre Sage after Brighton extended their lead through Gómez's wonderstrike and Yasin Ayari, with Charalampos Kostoulas adding a fourth after half-time and the substitute Jack Hinshelwood's late strike matching their record 5-0 win over Palace from 1956 in Division Three South.
The concerning news for Sage, whose decision to field the teenager Honest Ahanor and 20-year-old Canvot in defence backfired spectacularly, is that two of his predecessors – Patrick Vieira and Roy Hodgson – were relieved of their jobs not long after losing against Brighton. Palace have conceded more goals than any other Premier League side this season and it is understood that there have been some disagreements behind the scenes since the Frenchman took over from Oliver Glasner in the summer, although it remains to be seen whether the chair, Steve Parish, will act on suggestions from the gleeful Brighton supporters during the second half that he will be sacked in the morning.
"It's not my decision. I don't know," said Sage when asked if he will be given time to fix Palace's leaky defence. "I will always give my best. I just want to apologise to the fans because it's not normal to show this face. My feeling after the game is shame."
It was Hürzleler who was on the receiving end of that chant in February after Palace's smash-and-grab victory on the south coast. How things have changed. His vibrant side now find themselves in the conversation for Champions League qualification and they have a squad that also looks capable of coping with the demands of European football.
"The last game against Palace made me really grounded, having this criticism. It wasn't easy," said Hürzeler. "Now we sit here in a completely different mood, with a feeling of being really proud to beat Palace. I experienced some derbies and I'm part of this club, I'm part of the journey, that's why I'm also part of the history. The players deserve it for the hard work they did in the last month because they really stuck together, they faced adversity. They were always there for each other."
The usual hostility greeted the travelling fans after Sussex police had warned they would be deploying extra officers to deal with what remains very much a grudge match. But a torrential downpour before kick-off didn't dampen Brighton's desire for revenge. They tore into Palace's inexperienced defence from the first whistle and Canvot was caught flat-footed as he headed a pinpoint free-kick from Pascal Gross past Walter Benítez.
The Palace goalkeeper could then only watch in horror when Olivier Boscagli fed Gómez on the halfway line after Adam Wharton had lost possession cheaply and the ball sailed over his head into the net after the sweetest of contacts. No wonder that Hürzeler has been urging his players to take more shots from long range this season – they were already the division's top scorers with efforts from outside the box this season with four. Gómez's strike from 51 metres was the Premier League goal from furthest out since Wayne Rooney scored from 58 metres for Everton against West Ham in November 2017.
Things got even better for Brighton when a flowing move down the right allowed Kostoulas to tee up Ayari to sweep home via a deflection off the unfortunate Canvot. Sage looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.
If he hoped things might improve after the break then he was mistaken. It took Kostoulas only four minutes to make it 4-0 after the ball deflected into his path after good work from Gross. To the delight of the Brighton fans, Jean-Philippe Mateta contrived to hit the crossbar with the goal gaping on his return from injury before Eddie Nketiah also fluffed the chance to grab a consolation.
Sage's assistant, Paddy McCarthy, had to be held back from confronting the Brighton bench, with tempers threatening to spill over. Plenty of Palace fans had already seen enough by then as they made their escape after a nightmarish afternoon. They missed Hinshelwood scoring from close range six minutes from the end to round off the perfect afternoon for Hürzeler, who could not hide his emotion as he celebrated with his players at full time.