Brighton did not just win the A23 derby at the Amex on Sunday — they detonated it. Three goals in the first ten minutes, including a Diego Gómez strike from the halfway line that will be replayed for years, set up a 5-0 humiliation of Crystal Palace that lifts Fabian Hürzeler's side up to second in the Premier League.
Palace arrived with a deputy in goal — Walter Benítez starting in place of the injured Dean Henderson — a defence already missing the suspended Axel Disasi, and preparations shortened by Thursday's Europa League trip to Lyon. Within four minutes, their worst fears were realised, and within ten, the match was over as a contest.
Ten minutes that ended a derby
The collapse began in the fourth minute, when Pascal Groß's delivery to the front post was misjudged by young Palace defender Jaydee Canvot, who headed into his own net. Three minutes later came the moment of the weekend. Gómez collected the ball near the halfway line, advanced a stride into Palace's half and launched it over Benítez and under the bar — a strike that, as theScore's AP report noted, instantly revived memories of David Beckham against Wimbledon in 1996. talkSPORT measured it as the longest-range Premier League goal since Wayne Rooney's for Everton in 2017, and it was the Paraguayan's first goal of the season.
Palace had no time to process it. With their next attack, Brighton poured forward again and Yasin Ayari finished to make it 3-0 inside ten minutes. Brighton became the ninth side in Premier League history to score three times in the opening ten minutes of a match, and the first since Newcastle against Tottenham in April 2023.
No mercy after the break
Any thought that Brighton would ease off died four minutes into the second half, when Charalampos Kostoulas finished from a ricochet inside the box for 4-0. Palace, beaten at Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday — a 3-2 defeat that had already exposed their defensive frailties — at least kept swinging: Jean-Philippe Mateta rattled the crossbar with almost his first touch off the bench, and Jefferson Lerma headed against a post. But the final word belonged to Brighton. Jack Hinshelwood, on as a substitute, bundled in the fifth late on after Benítez parried Luka Vušković's header into his path, completing the rout. There was a personal note in that fifth goal, too: Hinshelwood had been an injury doubt in midweek, with Hürzeler saying only that he could be expected to return — a tap-in in a derby was a fine way to announce that he had.
So what does it mean?
Brighton move to 16 points and second place, five behind leaders Manchester City, with a sixth straight win in all competitions — achieved, remarkably, with Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh, Stefanos Tzimas and Evan Ferguson all injured. This is no longer a fast start; with the title race taking shape around them, the Seagulls are in it. Gómez, who signed a new contract until 2031 in August, produced its defining individual moment so far. The test now is depth: Brighton travel to Jablonec in the Conference League on Thursday before visiting Liverpool on Sunday. Palace stay on seven points with a goal difference in ruins, and Pierre Sage must rally his side for Thursday's Europa League trip to Beşiktaş and Newcastle's visit next Sunday.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: Derbies are supposed to be tight, tense and decided by moments. Brighton turned this one into a exhibition inside ten minutes, and Gómez's halfway-line strike is already the goal of the season until somebody proves otherwise. Palace were missing players, but 5-0 in a derby is a scar, not an excuse. Is Gómez's goal the best you have ever seen in the Premier League? Have your say in the comments.
