Ismaïla Sarr scored the winning goal in the second half as Crystal Palace ended a miserable 12-game winless streak by snatching a 1-0 Premier League victory at bitter rivals Brighton & Hove Albion.
Striker Sarr, who scored twice in Palace’s 3-1 win at the Amex Stadium last season, fired home in the 61st minute to settle a close derby encounter.
The south London team’s victory was their first in all competitions since December 11 and took them to 13th place, one point above Brighton.
Brighton were booed at full-time after the home fans expressed their displeasure at manager Fabian Hurzeler by shouting “you’ll be sacked in the morning” in the closing stages of a match in which they created little.
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Albion, who would have risen to the top half of the table with three points, have now won just one of their last 12 top-flight games.
Palace handed club-record £48 million ($65 million) debut Jorgen Strand Larsen as part of two changes, while Brighton’s three changes included a first Premier League start for 17-year-old midfielder Harry Howell.
A heavy police presence outside the field indicated the importance of this match to both groups of fans, but the passion in the stands was not matched by the entertainment on the field in a dour first half.
Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk missed a Pascal Gross free kick wide before Eagles defender Maxence Lacroix blocked a powerful effort from Maxim De Cuyper with his left thigh.
Palace rose in contention to end a troubled initial period on the rise.
A series of long shots from Chris Richards caused some concern for Brighton before Sarr cut wide in the 43rd minute following a move by Daniel Muñoz.
November’s second leg at Selhurst Park ended goalless and, given the early half-time, a similar result here looked a distinct possibility.
However, the deadlock was finally broken a minute later when substitute Evann Guessand made an instant impact on his Eagles debut.
The Ivory Coast striker, who joined on loan from Aston Villa on January 30, took advantage of a poor headed clearance from Dunk to sneak past Sarr, who took his time before firing past Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Eagles goalkeeper Dean Henderson denied Charalampos Kostoulas an equalizer with a save with his legs four minutes later.
Albion manager Hurzeler responded to the deficit with a triple change in the 71st minute, bringing on Diego Gomez, Yankuba Minteh and Danny Welbeck in place of De Cuyper, Carlos Baleba and Howell, prompting chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from some fans.
Strand Larsen twice threatened to double Palace’s lead before they held out comfortably through six minutes of added time to claim bragging rights and a first Premier League win since the 2-1 victory at Fulham on December 7.