Kostoulas Scores and Assists as Brighton Rout Palace 5-0

By Taki Panos

Some derbies stay tense for 90 minutes. This one was settled in ten. Charalampos Kostoulas set up one goal with a backheel and scored another as Brighton thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, October 18, in the seventh round of the Premier League, Sport24 reported. The 19-year-old Greek striker started up front, had a hand in two of the five goals and was taken off after 71 minutes with the job long finished.

For anyone who has not been following him, Kostoulas, known to everyone in Greece as Babis, is a forward who came through the Olympiacos academy. Brighton announced his signing in June 2025 on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee, describing him then as an 18-year-old who had just helped Olympiacos win the Greek league and cup double. He is now a full Greece international, as in.gr noted on Sunday. He belongs to a growing group of young Greeks holding down places in Europe's big leagues, alongside players like Konstantinos Koulierakis at Roma.

Brighton went ahead inside the first five minutes when Pascal Gross swung in a dangerous set piece and Palace defender Jaydee Canvot headed it into his own net, per SussexWorld and the Evening Standard. Then Diego Gomez did something people will be sharing all week. The Paraguayan midfielder spotted goalkeeper Walter Benitez off his line and lobbed him from around the halfway line, a 51 metre finish by the Standard's measurement, to make it 2-0. Sport24 and in.gr both placed that goal in the seventh minute. The Amex was still celebrating when the next one arrived.

That one belonged to Kostoulas. In the tenth minute he flicked a backheel into the path of Yasin Ayari, and the Swedish midfielder finished from around the penalty spot for 3-0, as Sport24 and in.gr described it. SussexWorld noted that Ayari's shot took a deflection on its way into the bottom corner, which takes nothing away from the pass. In.gr called it a dream ball, and Novasports wrote that he had served the goal to Ayari on a plate. Three goals in ten minutes against your fiercest rival. Not a bad way to spend a rainy Sunday on the south coast.

His own goal came early in the second half. In the 49th minute, Kostoulas finished from close range to make it 4-0, according to Sport24, Sportal and in.gr, with iefimerida noting that he punished a Palace defence that had simply stopped reacting. SussexWorld wrote that he finally got the goal he deserved. It was a striker's goal rather than a highlight reel one, and those count just as much. The best forwards are the ones standing in the right place when the ball drops, and he was.

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler took Kostoulas off after 71 minutes and sent on Georginio Rutter, per Sportal and SussexWorld. Jack Hinshelwood completed the scoring with a fifth goal in the 84th minute, Sport24 and in.gr reported. SussexWorld gave Kostoulas an 8 out of 10 in its player ratings, while Sport24 named him the MVP of the match in its Premier League roundup, so the Greek press and the local English press were broadly in agreement. Gomez, understandably, got a perfect 10 from SussexWorld. Hard to argue with that one.

The win lifted Brighton to 16 points from seven games and up to second in the table, at least for now, per in.gr and the Evening Standard. Sport24 pointed out that the Seagulls would be alone in second if Arsenal lost at Nottingham Forest later on Sunday. It was also a club record fourth straight Premier League win, a milestone Brighton and Hove News flagged before kick-off, and Novasports added that Brighton had never before won four league games in a row without conceding.

The result meant even more locally. Brighton and Palace are bitter rivals, and Hurzeler had never beaten Palace before Sunday. This was his first win in the fixture at the fifth attempt, the Evening Standard noted, and SussexWorld called it a day to remember for the coach. Palace won the Conference League last season, as iefimerida recalled, and their fans packed the away end waving inflatable Conference League trophies to taunt the home supporters, according to the Standard. By full time, those inflatables were about the only thing they had left to wave.

For Kostoulas, this is not a one-off. Back in September he scored and set up a goal in Brighton's 3-0 win over Arsenal, as in.gr and iefimerida reported at the time, and he has since become a regular in the starting eleven. Sport24 described him on Sunday as a starter who is now close to irreplaceable, and in.gr said the English press was praising him again after the Palace game. Iefimerida pointed out how much he has developed in roughly a year since arriving in Brighton. That kind of growth does not happen by accident.

For Greek football, this is very good news. A young striker starting and scoring for a team near the top of the Premier League is exactly what the national team needs as it plans for the next few years. Brighton has also become something of a home for Greek talent, since Kostoulas was the second Greek teenager the club signed in 2025, after Stefanos Tzimas, as Brighton noted in its announcement. Greek players in England are keeping us busy, even on days without a win, like Konstantinos Tzolakis at Fulham.

My take: the backheel will get the clicks, and it deserves them, but the second goal is the one I liked more. Strikers his age often try to score the perfect goal every time. Kostoulas read a loose ball and tapped it in, which is what proper number nines do. The real test now is doing this every week over a long season, with defenders paying more attention to him and the praise getting louder. Based on how calmly he handled Arsenal in September and Palace now, I am not too worried.

Brighton now wait on Arsenal's result at Nottingham Forest to see whether they stay second, and Greek fans will be watching for Kostoulas's next start. You can keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for more on Greeks in the Premier League and around the world. Babis is having a moment, and it does not look like a short one.

Sources: Sport24, Sportal, in.gr, iefimerida, Novasports, SussexWorld, Evening Standard, Brighton and Hove News, Brighton & Hove Albion.

Image: Flag of Greece, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).