Brighton edge past Crystal Palace thanks to Solly March’s early strike

Beware the Ides of March. Solly March that is. On the eve of Gareth Southgate naming his England squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, the 28-year-old’s seventh goal of the season finally ended Brighton’s four-year wait for a victory against their bitter rivals that leaves Crystal Palace still winless in 2023 and hovering precariously close to the relegation zone.

From the moment that Patrick Vieira was forced to hand Joe Whitworth his debut in goal, the Palace manager may have suspected it was not going to be his evening. But while the teenager pulled off several excellent saves to keep the visitors in with a fighting chance until the end, there was no hiding the growing chasm between them and Roberto De Zerbi’s side, who now find themselves level on points with Liverpool in sixth place with a game in hand. Having spent 73 days in 12th spot but now only three points clear of the bottom three, Palace clearly have other concerns to deal with.

There may only be 46 miles separating these rivals but the contrast in the respective moods could not have been more different in the buildup to this match. While Brighton fans have been dreaming of potential European qualification next season under their swashbuckling Italian manager, Palace supporters have been nervously looking over their shoulders for several weeks as the threat of relegation looms larger and larger.

Vieira has tried his best to calm the growing nerves and insisted this week that they had been working hard on becoming “more ruthless” in front of goal having become the first Premier League team in 20 years to have failed to register a shot on target in three successive matches. That unwanted statistic was at least brought to an end inside