In the 105th meeting between the Premier League's most unknown rivalry, Crystal Palace's first-half penalty goal was cancelled out by a last-minute Neal Maupay equaliser.
Although the draw halted Brighton's climb to the summit of the top-flight, Graham Potter would have been the happier of the two managers at full time, as he overlooked scenes of frayed passions colliding upon the final whistle.
Patrick Vieira fell to his knees, Wilfried Zaha confronted the Brighton players, and the away end gleamed in elation and euphoria; it was a game that Crystal Palace desperately deserved but shamefully lost grip of in the 95th minute.
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The Match
Under the lights of Selhurst Park, Brighton came to town in an attempt to glide to the summit of the Premier League table, but as they soon found out in the first 20 minutes, Crystal Palace are playing with a polished box of tools this season.
The calm and composed sliding of the ball that festered the fringes of the Brighton box was a pattern of play that remained persistent in the opening phases of play.
While Graham Potter's side were happy to let Palace keep the ball, Conor Gallagher and Luka Milivojevic aided the Eagles in controlling possession, finding the route to Wilfried Zaha's flank the most viable option, causing Joel Veltman to struggle from the start.
But despite their early dominance, their first real sight of goal didn't come until the twenty-minute mark. An intricate combination on the edge of the area fell to Odsonne Edouard - who was unable to notch his tally to three for the season.
The first half was very much one of two tales as both teams tackled for periods of possession. For the visitor's, their turn to attack came late on.
After being spectators to Palace's glaring creativity for much of the early stages, Brighton did start to play with more positivity on the half-hour mark, catalysing several half-chances that failed to break the deadlock.
A long ball up to Danny Welbeck was thwarted by an alert Vicente Guaita and follow-up pressure that invited Marc Cucurella to nudge up the pitch and challenge Joel Ward resulted in nothing for the visitors.
In a first-half that oscillated, however, it was Patrick Vieira's men who finished the better, scoring a goal to reward their endurance.
Conor Gallagher was bundled over in the box by Leandro Trossard, and Wilfried Zaha calmly converted from the spot to score his fifth Selhurst goal against bitter rivals Brighton, sending Palace into the break at 1-0.
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Second half
Looking to make amends for their defensive blunder at the death of the first half, Lewis Dunk's looping header had to be tipped over the bar by Guaita in the first five minutes of the second phase of play.
His effort was then supported by two Adam Lallana shots, with the new-look Palace defence putting their bodies on the line to keep their one-goal lead intact.
However, after a short-lived spell of promise, chances came few and far between afterwards, with the game slowed right down following the injury to Steven Alzate.
Much of the gameplay occurred in the centre of the pitch, with both teams jostling for the ball and struggling to regain a foothold. Vieira brought on the double addition of Cheikhou Kouyate and Christian Benteke to hold Brighton captive.
That wouldn't stop Jordan Ayew searching for a second, hitting the post after Gallagher and Benteke combined to give the Ghanaian a golden opportunity to get on the scoresheet.
Had the makeshift right-winger gone across the face of goal, the deficit could have been doubled, but Ayew lacked composure in his end-product.
Unsurprisingly, if anyone on the pitch still had a lot left in the tank, it was the goalscorer. Zaha continued to look a threat for the rest of the match, testing the legs of Brighton's right flank and adding to his infamous tendency of winning free-kicks.
Crystal Palace looked ascendingly comfortable while Brighton became increasingly dependent on shots from afar to salvage a point under the South London night sky.
And salvage a point they did.
As concentration fell to tipping point, and a weak goal kick from Guaita exposed Palace's defence, Neal Maupay scored his fourth goal of the season, looping a chip over the onrushing Palace goalkeeper and sending the away end into raptures.
And just like the last two occasions these two sides met in South London, the score ended at 1-1.