Soccer Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - December 21, 2023 Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson in action REUTERS/Toby Melville
LONDON (Reuters) -Danny Welbeck headed a stunning late equaliser as Brighton & Hove Albion held Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw on Thursday, denying the home side a first victory at Selhurst Park since Sept. 3 in a disappointing result for both sides.
"I think we lost two points," Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi told Sky Sports. "It is because we made too many mistakes, especially in the first half. In the second half we played with more energy, to find the chance to score."
Brighton, who have just two wins in 12 league games, climbed to eighth in the table with 27 points after 18 games. Roy Hodgson's Palace, who were coming off a shock draw at Manchester City last weekend , are 15th on 18 points.
"As a group we are a bit disappointed because we wanted to come here and get the three points," Welbeck told Sky. "I feel like we should be a bit higher in the table with the way we've performed and there have been some results that got away from us. It happened again tonight."
Palace looked to be heading towards victory after Jordan Ayew scored just before the break in a drab first half when Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen hesitated and gave up possession. Michael Olise sent in a pinpoint cross to the back post that Ayew dove to head in.
But Brighton responded with 14 second-half shots and Welbeck, who entered the game after halftime, scored with a brilliant header in the 82nd minute -- his 64th Premier League goal -- to silence the Palace crowd.
With his back to the net, Welbeck leapt high to send it into the top corner, turning around to watch the flight of the ball.
"I am still making my way back from injury but I felt good and have been feeling good all week," Welbeck said. "I was just trying to make an impact. To get the goal is good but I am disappointed not to get the three points.
"It's nice to be back on the scoresheet," he added. "(But) we want to be getting three points more consistently."
It was remarkably the fifth successive time this clash has ended 1-1 at Selhurst.
The Seagulls almost got the winner in what would have been a bizarre goal when Palace keeper Dean Henderson rushed out to punch the ball away, but bounced it hard off Welbeck's head and backwards toward the net. It rolled just wide of the net.
"It's frustrating, we played a really good first half, I don't remember them having clear cut chances," Palace defender Joachim Andersen told Sky.
"But Danny Welbeck scores a fantastic goal, that's just quality with them. We played a decent match, but just got tired in the second half."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
