Bidding to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, Iain Dowie's Eagles had suffered the frustration of a 1-0 defeat to Brighton at Selhurst Park just a month prior.

But a trip to the Withdean Stadium provided prime opportunity for Palace to seize a measure of revenge – which they duly did in dramatic fashion, snatching three points and leaving their rivals one place off the bottom of the table.

The match started poorly for Palace, however, with Leon Knight giving Brighton a 22nd-minute lead with a cute back-heeled finish which trickled across the line, and Alexandre Frutos later hit the crossbar for the home side.

Six minutes later, however, and Freedman – in his ninth partial season as a Palace player, either side of spells at Wolves and Nottingham Forest – produced a

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