Oliver Glasner said their victory over rivals Brighton was "the best Christmas gift" Crystal Palace could give their supporters.

The Eagles moved four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone following a 3-1 victory at the American Express Stadium.

Ismaila Sarr scored twice while Trevoh Chalobah was also on target for the visitors, who stretched their unbeaten streak to five matches, while goalkeeper Dean Henderson made a string of impressive saves to largely keep the hosts at bay.

Palace beat Brighton for the first time since February 2021, ending a run of six winless Premier League fixtures against them (D4 L2). Each of the Eagles' last three top-flight wins against them have now come away from home.

It has been a timely upturn in fortunes for Palace after a difficult start to the season, and Glasner is pleased to reward the supporters for sticking by his team.

"All the credit goes to the players," he told BBC Sport. "We defended compact, we didn't give them many situations.

"They changed their system, and we struggled to put pressure on the ball. In this phase, we needed Dean, who made two or three big saves. It was a very positive performance.

"We knew that if we were patient, we would get better performances. Some players were not fit, new signings, but we didn't want to talk about this and look to be making excuses. We are getting more confident about how we want to play.

"It was always clear to us that we would get better results. But it is not time to relax, it is time to keep going.

"It's a very important game for our fans and I told the players it was the best Christmas gift we could give them because they are always behind us."

"It's absolutely massive," Henderson added on Sky Sports. "The fans have been patient with us this season. We are in a false position, we have great players, and today it all clicked.

"We knew they would come out [in the second half] and it would be hard. Luckily, I helped the team today. When you're in that moment, you feel good, you feel unbeatable."

Meanwhile, Brighton are now without a victory in four matches, their longest winless streak since Fabian Hurzeler took charge.

Brighton created chances worth an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.81 in this match, their lowest tally in a Premier League fixture so far this season, and the Seagulls' head coach rued his players' profligacy after suffering their first home defeat of the campaign.

"The goals we conceded are too easy. You can't concede these easy goals," he said.

"I think we showed a good reaction in the second half, we had some big chances, but then the game is getting more and more difficult because they are getting more and more compact.

"In the end, we had the chances. I think the goalkeeper saved two or three big chances, but we were not clinical enough in the final third. We missed the killer instinct to get the goal."