Albion Women 2 Crystal Palace 1: Peskett scores on her first WSL start

Brighton & Hove Albion^1,2,3 Women came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in the Women’s Super League on Sunday. It was their third win in eight days, and it moves them up to sixth.

It was also their third home league win in a row, something Albion last managed in 2021.

Albion had the better of the first half hour. Fran Kirby, Olivia Garcia and Manu Vanegas all had chances. Then Palace scored against the run of play: Beth England intercepted a clearance from keeper Chimaka Nnadozie and laid it back to Annabel Blanchard, whose shot from 25 yards flew into the top corner.

The equaliser came on 59 minutes. Vanegas won the ball back deep in the Palace half and crossed, and Caitlin Hayes headed it past Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. That is her fourth goal of the season.

Five minutes later Emilie Joramo shot and Sophie Peskett steered it in from close range. It was Peskett’s first WSL start. Albion were without Kiko Seike, Jelena Cankovic, Madison Haley, Charlie Rule, Lia Walti and Moeka Minami.

England nearly scored from 30 yards after spotting Nnadozie off her line, but Albion finished in control. Garcia and Kirby both had chances to add a third. Vanegas was player of the match.

Head coach Arturo Ruiz said: “The result didn’t show at all what happened in the first half. And then in the second half, at least we got what we definitely deserved, which is three really important points for us.”

“It’s a team win,” he said. “All the players deserve today. I don’t think that there’s one player that was much better than the others, and that’s the best thing that a team can have.”

Albion are away to Spurs at the BetWright Stadium on Sunday 8 November at 2pm. They are home to Watford Women at Broadfield Stadium on Wednesday 11 November at 7.45pm, then play Liverpool at the Amex on Saturday 14 November at 5.15pm.