Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton: Smiling Neal Maupay reveals details behind clash with a furious Wilfried Zaha

Maupay rescued a point for Brighton at the death with virtually the last kick of the game against rivals Palace after Wilfried Zaha had given the hosts the lead from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.

Conor Gallagher won the Eagles a spot-kick when Leonard Trossard brought the Chelsea loanee down following a driving run into the penalty area.

Despite usual spot-kick taker Milivojevic being on the pitch, Zaha took responsibility and sent Robert Sanchez the wrong way to make it 1-0 at the break with his eighth goal against the Seagulls.

Maupay had the final say and was involved in a dispute between players after the whistle, and added: “I think football is nothing without fans, and without some involvement between players. It’s a derby. Everyone wanted to win. The atmosphere was really, really good.

“I scored, and I saw (Wilfried) Zaha and I smiled at him because I saw him celebrating his penalty in the first half and he gave some to our fans.

“I won’t say what he said but you know how it is sometimes between players, you give a bit of banter. That was a good time for us because we scored in the last minute so it was a good time to give him something.

Maupay added: “It’s been a tough game, I thought Palace played well, we weren’t so good today, but I think the resilience of the team was spot on and in the end we scored so we’re definitely happy with the point tonight.

“Before the goalkeeper kicked it, I asked the referee how long was left and he said there was a minute. I thought, ‘Okay, we might have one more chance, or we might not’.

“The ball went behind the defender, I just saw the ball coming and I believed I could get it and I did, I scored, so I’m very, very happy tonight.”