(Football news) Brighton & Hove Albion continued their rich vein of form as they maintained their push to qualify for Europe with a 1-0 victory against rivals Crystal Palace to move level on points with Liverpool in the Premier League standings on Wednesday. It was a goal from in form Solly March after 15 minutes which proved enough for the seventh-placed team to 42 points which is subsequently the same as Liverpool but having played one game less.

Brighton have gone on to win 12 league games this season which has equalled their own top-flight record, and are just six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand. Palace on the other hand continued their struggles in front of goal as they failed to take three early chances with Odsonne Edouard heading a glorious chance wide and Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise were guilty of missing easy chances. Patrick Vieira’s team are now without a goal in their last four games as they yet to get a victory in 2023, despite being 12th in the standings, they are now only three points above the relegation zone.

Brighton continued to impress under new manager Roberto De Zerbi and soon after Palace’s initial flurry of chances, the Seagulls completely controlled the game. Brighton have gone on to pick up 18 points in the Premier League in 2023, with only Manchester City (25) and Arsenal (23) picking up more points this year. In-form midfielder Solly March scored his seventh league goal of the season from Kaoru Mitoma’s incisive pass in the 15th minute of the match.

Patrick Veira gave a debut to 19-year-old goalkeeper Joe Whitworth because of an injury to Vicente Guaita, making him the youngest keeper to appear in a Premier League game since Ben Alnwick for Sunderland in December 2005. The Crystal Palace goal was probably the man of the match but it was another night of frustration for Palace at the other end of the pitch. For Palace things aren’t looking great as they face Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

“The problem is we don’t score those goals and we don’t make the right decisions in the last third,” Vieira said. “It is confidence. We had a really good game plan. We were aggressive enough but with a lack of talent at times and killer instinct and ruthlessness to put the ball in the net.”

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