The Metropolitan Police are investigating after an object was allegedly thrown towards Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson at full-time in his side’s 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth on Wednesday night.
Palace supporters reacted with loud boos after the final whistle following a lifeless defeat which leaves them with one win from their last eight games, while no team has a worse home record this season.
But that anger appeared to turn into something more serious when it appeared that an object was thrown. Hodgson was not hit and there have been no reports of any injuries. Police say no arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.
The former England manager claimed to be unaware of the incident at the time and only learned about it afterwards. He brushed it off with a lighthearted response and seemed unfazed by the matter.
Hodgson drew criticism after his post-match press conference with Prime Video Sport after saying Palace fans had been “spoilt” at Selhurst Park in recent seasons.
“The fact is that the expectations are high hence the boos,” Hodgson said. “People came here to see us win and we weren’t capable of winning. To be fair, we did play against a good side, Bournemouth did well and they made life very difficult for us. We tried hard. We weren’t able to cause them enough problems. I think the scoreline is actually a bit harsh.
“But this is what happens when it’s 1-0 and you’re throwing everything forward and we’re making lots of changes in the team in the hope that somewhere we’ll find a goal out of nowhere and then you concede the second one.
“The fact is the fans have been spoiled here in recent times, they’re used to seeing us do very well at home and getting good results and this year we’ve not been able to do that.
“They’ve come here today thinking after our good point at West Ham that we would run all over and blow Bournemouth away but unfortunately they are false expectations because Bournemouth are not an easy team to blow away.”
Palace are 14th in the table with 16 points from 14 games but have a challenging run of fixtures in December, starting with a home game against Hodgson’s former side Liverpool on Saturday, then an away match at Manchester City, before hosting Brighton & Hove Albion and a trip to Chelsea.
