WSL: Brighton scrape win against Crystal Palace through Vilamala | OneFootball

A controversial goal from Bruna Vilamala handed Brighton all three points against Crystal Palace. The 35th minute winner was enough to secure the Seagulls their third win of the domestic season. Crystal Palace have taken just three points of the twelve available so far.

Starting XIs

Crystal Palace: Yanez; Veje, Gibbons, Cato, Everett (C), Blanchard, Green, Potter, Riley, Gejl, Stengel

Subs: Majasaari, Arthur, Sharpe, Weerden, Hopcroft, Larki, Aspin, Atkinson

Brighton: Baggaley; Thorisdottir, Bergsvand, Losada (C), Bremer, Parris, Cankovic, Kirby, Carabali, Olislagers, Bruna

Subs: Masaka, Seike, Symonds, Haley, Auee, Mclauchlan, Loeck, Agyemang

How it went

The first half was foreshadowed with the grey skies in South London this Sunday afternoon. Brighton started brightly but Crystal Palace soon found out their opponents’ weak spot. Annabel Blanchard made multiple beautiful runs down into the seagulls’ territory but was often just short of being onside. The first goal of the match came in the 34th minute from Bruna Vilamala. The opener however raised many controversies as Crystal Palace’s hands were raised after a foul on their goalkeeper Shae Yanez, which caused her to drop the ball leading to the goal.

A substitute for Brighton came in the 38th minute after Jelena Cankovic went down injured, being replaced by Maisie Symonds. The first goal sparked Brighton and Hove Albion to search for a second in the late minutes of the first half, having multiple attempts from Fran Kirby, Vilamala and Nikita Parris but Yanez made some brilliant saves.

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Second Half Action

The Seagulls made a strong start to the second half as they looked to maintain their lead. Palace however looked dominant on the attack making several chances throughout the first 20 minutes. An attempt for Brighton came in the 73rd minute after a quiet few minutes for the seagulls but yet another foul was committed on Yanez. Brighton’s second-half substitutions of Kiko Sieke and Michelle Agyemang served them well. In the final moments of normal time, Yanez made a third magnificent save of the game which was flicked over from Seike after Agyemang had struck over. As the game entered the last moments of extra time, Crystal Palace came close to an equalizer from Blanchard however Sophie Baggaley came flying in with a brilliant save.

Therefore as the full-time whistle blew it was Vilamala’s controversial goal that secured the victory for Brighton. The win marks their third in four league games so far this season. It was an unfortunate result for the Eagles as they held their dominance well.

Brighton finish the weekend sitting fourth in the table whilst Crystal Palace occupy eighth position.

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