It’s hard to imagine how this could have gone any worse for Roy Hodgson. As the Crystal Palace manager watched his side being dismantled by their bitter rivals with boos from the away end ringing in his ears, he cut a disconsolate figure on the touchline.
Having fallen behind to Lewis Dunk’s early header, the Premier League’s oldest manager was left fearing for his future again as Jack Hinshelwood and Facundo Buonanotte scored quick-fire goals to record Brighton’s biggest win in this fixture since a 5-0 victory in January 1956 in Division Three South. The disgruntled visiting supporters once more took aim at the chairman, Steve Parish, who watched on in horror as the new signing Adam Wharton gave the ball away for the third goal and then Michael Olise picked up another injury minutes after coming on, to join Eberechi Eze and the captain, Marc Guéhi, on the treatment table.
Some Palace fans were heading for the exits before half-time, with a banner first seen during the 5-0 annihilation at Arsenal a fortnight ago given another airing. “No shared vision. No structured plan. Parish out. Yanks out.” The Palace chairman looked a sheepish figure as the TV cameras cut to him in the directors’ box. But for Hodgson, who will need no reminding that his predecessor Patrick Vieira was sacked after losing 1-0 here back in March, this was undoubtedly a new low despite Jean-Philippe Mateta grabbing a consolation before João Pedro rounded off the rout for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
“Taunts from away supporters is part and parcel of our lives and at the moment fans aren’t happy so they are making their feelings known,” said Hodgson. “But I signed up to be a manager at this football club and I have the strength and resilience to see things through and I’m certainly not going to say that I’m cowed by that type of thing.”
The 76-year-old had hinted the hamstring injury that forced Eze to limp off in midweek would cause him to miss this trip, with the England midfielder having been sent for a scan on Friday. But the decision to have Olise on the bench as a precaution as he returns from injury backfired spectacularly. “They told me and he told me too that he was fine to be on the bench and to play in the second half,” Hodgson said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball and I have no hindsight and wasn’t to know it was going to lead to him getting a recurrence of his injury.”
De Zerbi’s response to the 4-0 thrashing at Luton was to make four changes, including a first start since the end of November for Tariq Lamptey. It was his first foray down the left flank that led to the corner from which Dunk was given the freedom to head home a pinpoint cross from Pascal Gross.
Hodgson, who saw his side concede within 20 seconds against Sheffield United before coming back to win 3-2 on Tuesday in a match billed as do or die, could not hide his frustration as Palace struggled against opponents who clearly had a point to prove after going three league games without scoring..
Disaster struck for the visitors when Guéhi was forced off with a knee injury and within five minutes they found themselves three goals down. Tyrick Mitchell was culpable for the second as Hinshelwood showed more desire to connect with Lamprey’s cross before Wharton – on to replace Guéhi – gifted possession to Brighton in midfield and Buonanotte rounded off a sweeping move from a Gross assist.
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“It’s not the first historic day in my time here,” said De Zerbi. “We are very happy to please our fans but I’m not surprised by the reaction we showed after the Luton game.”
Palace could have found a way back into the game after Mateta’s consolation had Olise’s replacement, Matheus França, taken his opportunity. But it was João Pedro who rounded off an afternoon to savour for the home fans and one to forget for Hodgson, who must now wait to see whether he has performed his last act as Parish made a quick exit after the final whistle. The defender Joachim Andersen had to be dragged away by his assistant Paddy McCarthy after becoming involved in a heated discussion with the travelling supporters.
