Zaha wonder strike helps Palace to derby point

Palace 1-1 Brighton

Wilfried Zaha rescued a point for Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Eagles, who had six first-team players sidelined, failed to muster a shot on goal in the opening period with Brighton so dominant.

Aaron Mooy, Yves Bissouma and Pascal Gross all attempted efforts from long range but saw no way past Palace stopper Vicente Guaita.

The south coast club had an appeal for a penalty denied after makeshift left-back Jairo Riedewald caught Martin Montoya in the area, but VAR did not agree after a long review.

Neal Maupay put Brighton into a deserved lead in the 54th minute by lashing into the top corner following a good passing move.

Although a Christian Benteke cross hit the bar, Brighton squandered even more chances to increase their lead.

However, Palace got on level terms in the 70th minute thanks to a superb Zaha finish – his third of the season.

James Tomkins nodded Luka Milivojevic’s pass down to the attacker, who drove towards goal before blasting a left-foot shot into the roof of the net.

Palace looked more like snatching a winner at the end but had to settle for a point as they move up to ninth in the table.

Palace: Guaita, Riedewald (McCarthy 45), Tomkins, Dann, Kelly, McArthur, Kouyate (Meyer 66), Milivojevic, Zaha, Ayew, Benteke.

Not used: Hennessey, Woods, Mitchell, Camarasa, Wickham.

Brighton: Ryan, Burn, Dunk, Webster, Bissouma (Duffy 84), Montoya, Mooy, Propper, Trossard (Alzate 84), Maupay, Gross (Bernardo 90).

Not used: Button, Jahanbakhsh, Schelotto, Murray.