With Crystal Palace said to be in the early stages of a takeover dance, this was hardly the kind of exhibit you would want to shove in your shop window.
It shouldn't matter, of course. On 33 points, and with a good goal difference relative to others in the muddy half of the table, they might even be fine now. So with Palace going nowhere, those television riches are going nowhere and so too, you would assume, the potential buyer in the US.
But in any case it's not a great look, this, with a ropey performance and a disappointing defeat against a side with only one league win in 2019.
That's just the strange way of Palace this season, though. They have been excellent away, but at home they now have just one win in the past seven in the league. Bizarre for a team with so much talent and under Roy Hodgson's impressive management.
But take no credit from Brighton, who joined Palace on 33 points with this win and celebrated it in a manner that suggests they believe they ought to be safe. They have had a tricky time of things in the second half of the campaign and even that run-ending win last week at Huddersfield was less than convincing in light of the opposition.
It might be a push to say they deserved this win, but they will take it nonetheless. They had some good fortune with the opener when James Tomkins jumped at a high ball and missed, allowing Glenn Murray to run on goal. He was only in the team because Florin Andone was injured in the warm up and his finish was his 100th for Brighton.
Palace levelled with a Luka Milivojevic penalty before Anthony Knockaert scored a belter on 74 minutes. A brilliant goal and an important one for a side that previously had one point from six away games.
They sensed that fixture – a peculiar one for a derby, granted - was a big game and that is how they approached it. Three times in the opening 10 minutes they threw in challenges that, at best, might be classed as robust. The first one, somewhere inside 30 seconds, saw Anthony Knockaert booked for a sliding tackle that almost castrated Luka Milivojevic.
A moment later Yves Bissouma stood heavily on Milivojevic's heel – accidentally, it should be said – before Bissouma then clattered Wilfried Zaha to the ground. Less innocent, that one. A feisty start, all told.
In terms of football, of moves and chances, there was zip until the goal on 19 minutes, which itself was a combination of a monstrously long punt, a mistimed header and a very good finish.
In order, Lewis Dunk launched a clearance 70 yards upfield, from which James Tomkins made a hash of tracking the flight of the ball in the wind and fluffed his header, putting Murray through. On the half volley he lashed the loose ball across Vicente Guaita. Lovely stuff.
Palace offered only a little going forward until Zaha was given a whiff of a chance on the half hour. He wiggled into space and got a shot off but Dunk, with all limbs off the ground, lunged in to block.
Brilliant defending, as it was at the end of the half when the same player denied Michy Batshuayi.
In between those threatening moments, Brighton had a reasonable shout for a penalty when Scott Dann tugged down Shane Duffy at a set-piece.
In real time it was a tangle in a crowded area and the familiar outcome of a player throwing himself to the ground; under the microscope of slow-motion, it appeared a sure foul. VAR will have a major impact next season in this area of the game.
Ironically enough, Palace levelled with a penalty five minutes into the second half. Davy Propper tripped Andros Townsend and Milivojevic went right with the kick while Mat Ryan went left.
For a quirky and bizarre statistic, he has now scored 17 goals from penalties since his Premier League debut in February 2017 - nine more than any other player.
From there, Zaha, on an otherwise quiet afternoon, had one threatening run that died in a crowd of Brighton defenders, and Murray became the third player to nail Milivojevic with a dodgy challenge that drew a yellow card.
Beyond that, Palace did not offer an enormous amount, which left them ripe for Knockaert's quite stunning strike.
When he took possession out on Brighton's right, there was nothing on. But with a couple of shuffles left of Patrick van Aanholt he bought a slither of space and whipped a monster of a shot off his left foot and into the top corner.
A stunning snap of quality in an otherwise mediocre game.
