Presumably there were Crystal Palace fans toasting this win by making theirs a double in the Clifton Arms, the lively boozer situated only a long throw from Selhurst Park. No blaming them if so. That was the theme of their A23 derby, after all.
Two goals for the team, two assists for Eberechi Eze, two second yellows for Eddie Nketiah and Marc Guehi, and two victories over Brighton in a single season.
Palace had to wait a long old while to do the league double over their rivals. Since 1932, to be precise, when they were in the Third Division South. Even Roy Hodgson was 14 years from being born in Croydon, as if to underline the age it took them.
They could never have envisaged ending that 93-year wait in a manner as gloriously ludicrous as this, with a finale so cinematic that it was almost a waste to have not been televised.
With Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring and Danny Welbeck equalising to leave it 1-1 at half-time, it was Daniel Munoz who got the winning goal in 55th minute.
Then came the carnage. Nketiah and Guehi were shown their second yellows in the 78th and 90th minutes respectively, reducing Palace to nine players for the remainder of the match.
Crystal Palace secured an impressive league double over Brighton for first time in 93 years
Jean-Philippe Mateta sent the Eagles on their way before the game descended into anarchy
Daniel Munoz scored the decisive second goal but they would end the match with nine men
Twelve minutes of stoppage time were announced, and it was after six that Brighton had Jan Paul van Hecke dismissed for his own second yellow as they dropped down to 10 men.
Consider this a futile rivalry if you must, given the 50-mile gap between the clubs, but try telling that to the three reds, or the Selhurst roar at full-time, or to Mateta as he sprinted from the substitutes’ bench and on to the pitch in order to celebrate with great gusto.
Palace manager Oliver Glasner said: ‘It’s a massive win but I’m exhausted. So much was going on. The atmosphere at the end in the stadium, the fighting spirit of the team together with our fans, it was great to experience. You cannot buy this experience.’
Towards the end, Glasner was even clapping along to the chanting from Palace fans. ‘I needed something to do with my arms,’ he joked afterwards.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler added: ‘It was very wild. We couldn’t control it at the end. We weren’t able to find right solution. The hunger was bigger from Palace.’
Hurzeler’s side have eyes on Europe and yet trailed 1-0 after 139 seconds when Eze played in Mateta, who struck sweetly beyond Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Only the fingertips of Verbruggen stopped Palace from scoring another when his goalkeeping counterpart Dean Henderson launched a long ball into the final third for Eze, who controlled, turned inside then out, and nearly found the far corner.
It was in the 13th minute when Brighton finally turned up, as Henderson denied Carlos Baleba’s 25-yard strike and then Welbeck’s rebound in quick succession – yet another double with England manager Thomas Tuchel also spending his Saturday at Selhurst.
The visitors managed to pull level when Danny Welbeck slid in to score into the bottom corner
It sparked jubilation in the away end and Welbeck was soon mobbed by his team-mates
Brighton fans were desperate not to see Palace go and do the league double over them
The match descended into chaos when Eddie Nketiah was shown a red card for Palace late on
Things got even stranger when Palace were reduced to nine men with Marc Guehi sent off
His foul on Jan Paul van Hecke was deemed reckless and he was given his marching orders
After 27 minutes, Brighton team-mates Jack Hinshelwood and Yankuba Minteh argued after a communication breakdown but in the 31st, they were back to being friends as both were involved in it becoming 1-1. The ball made its way from Hinshelwood to Matt O’Riley to Minteh, who crossed as Welbeck toed it in.
Palace retook their lead when Eze teed up Munoz, whose swerving shot squeezed in.
In the 68th minute, Nketiah was introduced for Mateta. In the 69th, he was booked for diving while trying to buy a penalty from Pervis Estupinan. In the 78th arrived his second yellow, as Nketiah’s high boot threatened Van Hecke. Nketiah apologised to the fans for his 10 minutes of madness while trudging towards the tunnel.
Guehi was soon shown his own second yellow for planting his studs into the thigh of Brajan Gruda, having received his first caution for clumsily chopping down Van Hecke.
But Van Hecke himself was then sent off for tripping Daichi Kamada as a bonkers game finally finished 2-1 – in goals and red cards.
