Fabian Hurzeler: Diego Gomez always puts team first despite halfway line heroics

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler hailed Diego Gomez’s team-first mentality after his sensational goal from the halfway line helped inspire a 5-0 demolition of bitter rivals Crystal Palace.

Midfielder Gomez spectacularly opened his account for the season by pinging the ball over stranded Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez from fractionally inside opposition territory at the Amex Stadium.

The 51-metre finish evoked memories of David Beckham’s eye-catching effort against Wimbledon 30 years ago and was the longest-range Premier League goal since Wayne Rooney scored from 58 metres for Everton against West Ham in November 2017.

Paraguay international Gomez had been well off target with a similar attempt during last weekend’s 2-0 success at Sunderland.

“He’s a hard worker, he always puts the team first,” Hurzeler said of the Paraguay international. “He’s always ‘we’ then ‘me’.

“I know how desperately he wants to get involved in scoring and having assists.

“Last week, he showed against Sunderland, there was already that attempt shooting from the middle line. There the wind wasn’t perfect for this try. Now the wind was better for him.

“I’m really happy that he gets this reward for all of the effort he’s putting into the club, into his own development, and into the team.”

Jaydee Canvot’s own goal set Brighton on course for a fourth successive top-flight win before Yasin Ayari’s deflected finish quickly added to Gomez’s stunner in a remarkable opening 10 minutes.

Charalampos Kostoulas and Jack Hinshelwood struck in the second half to equal Albion’s biggest win over Palace.

The result also secured Hurzeler his first victory over the Eagles at the fifth attempt, taking his high-flying Seagulls to 16 points from seven games.

The German had been subjected to chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from his own supporters during a 1-0 home defeat by Palace in February.

“The last game against Palace made me really grounded, having this criticism it wasn’t easy,” he said.

“And now we sit here in a completely different mood, with a feeling of being really proud.

“It’s just a privilege to be part of this group and therefore I’m really pleased and happy for everyone who is part of this club.

“I hope everyone enjoys the night today; it’s a much better night than a few months ago and a much better feeling.”

Eagles manager Pierre Sage apologised to his club’s fans after suffering a fourth defeat in seven league games since his summer appointment.

Palace substitutes Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jefferson Lerma were each denied by the goal frame at 4-0 down on a humiliating afternoon for the visitors.

“It’s difficult to summarise because there are a lot of negative points,” Sage said.

“We started really bad. It’s completely not normal to concede three goals in this kind of game after nine minutes.

“I prepare the team that is why I am responsible of what’s happened on the pitch. I have a lot of work to do because I have to change this kind of thing.

“I just want to apologise to the fans. We were not at the level we expected, and I’m really sorry for that because I know how important it is for them, but we didn’t show today that it’s really important for us too.

“I think we didn’t understand which context this game was played.”