Crystal Palace recovered after conceding a calamitous own goal to rescue a point
Bottom club Crystal Palace ended a run of five straight Women's Super League defeats after My Cato rescued a late draw at 10-player Brighton.
Palace had gone behind through a calamitous own goal after 18 minutes when defender Lily Woodham, under little pressure, passed back to goalkeeper Milla-Maj Majasaari - but the ball rolled under the Finn's foot and trickled into the net.
The Eagles were given a lifeline early in the second half when Brighton's Maisie Symonds was shown a straight red card on her 22nd birthday for a high challenge on Aimee Everett.
And, with three minutes of normal time remaining, Woodham raced down the left before cutting the ball back to Cato, who tapped in.
Both sides almost won the match deep into stoppage time. Josie Green's header from a corner for Palace was blocked on the goalline by defender Guro Bergsvand - and at the other end, Brighton's Marisa Olislagers struck the base of the post when played clean through.
Even with their draw, Palace remained bottom of the table, five points from a position of safety.
Brighton, meanwhile, stayed fifth as they ended a four-match winless run in the league.
Individual errors cost Palace again
A draw was a fair reflection of the balance of play, but at this stage of the season, only wins will do for Crystal Palace.
Once again, a costly mistake made their job much more difficult.
What will frustrate Palace supporters is that their team were looking very comfortable defensively up until Woodham's own goal.
Laura Kaminski's side have the league's worst defensive record, having conceded 35 goals in 13 matches.
Majasaari lost concentration for just a second - and once the ball had rolled beyond her, she was never catching it before it hit the net.
The keeper did do well later in the first half, keeping out a Jelena Cankovic free-kick with a confident save.
Palace striker Katie Stengel had a number of half-chances, keeping Brighton stopper Melina Loeck, who started ahead of Sophie Baggaley, busy.
Brighton initially rallied after Symonds was penalised for her late challenge on the halfway line, and limited Palace's possession.
Indeed, the Seagulls looked on course to record their first WSL win since they beat West Ham 3-2 on 16 November.
But, in the closing stages, Palace were able to exploit a gap down the left side and Cato made no mistake with her finish.
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