Roy Hodgson vowed to carry on fighting as Crystal Palace manager despite some of the club’s fans turning on him during the 4-1 Premier League defeat at Brighton.

Hodgson cut a forlorn figure on the touchline as goals from Lewis Dunk, Jack Hinshelwood, Facundo Buonanotte and Joao Pedro once again left his future under scrutiny.

Palace sacked their previous manager, Patrick Vieira, following a 1-0 defeat in this fixture last season so Hodgson, on a run of just four wins from 17 matches, could be on thin ice.

The 76-year-old knew it was not going to be his day when Michael Olise, on as a substitute, lasted just eight minutes before suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

That led to chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ from the away end with the Brighton fans, never shy to revel in their rivals’ misfortune, responding with ‘Super Roy Hodgson’.

“Wonderful, wasn’t it?” quipped Hodgson. “Is it nice? No it isn’t. Yes, my years of management have given the me resilience me to cope with that, absolutely, and taunts from away supporters are part and parcel of our lives.

“At the moment our fans aren’t very happy with everything that is happening at the club and they are making their feelings known as well.

“But I signed up to be the manager and coach of this football club and I’ve got the strength, resilience and determination to see things through. I’m certainly not going to be cowed by that type of thing.”

Hodgson is hamstrung by the absence of Eberechi Eze through injury but his decision to risk his other star man, Olise, when his side were 3-0 down raised eyebrows.

“I was told he couldn’t start the game, everyone was quite comfortable with that,” added Hodgson.

“But they told me, and he told me, he was fine to be on the bench and to play in the second half. Unfortunately I don’t have a crystal ball and I wasn’t to know that would lead to a recurrence of his injury.”

A late goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta could not spark a Palace revival and the loss of captain Marc Guehi to a first-half knee injury just compounded a thoroughly rotten day.

Then goalkeeper Dean Henderson and defender Joachim Andersen had a heated exchange with some supporters at the final whistle.

“They are realistic enough to know the fans aren’t going to be happy to see their team lose 4-1 and I think the players did the right thing,” insisted Hodgson.

“No one is less happy than ourselves. At least they went over to thank the fans and let them know we are grateful for their support. If people react, so be it.”

It was Brighton’s biggest win over their fierce rivals since 1956 and the perfect response to the midweek 4-0 defeat at Luton.

Boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “We are very happy because in a derby we made our fans happy, but I’m not surprised with the reaction we showed.

“Our win started on Tuesday after the Luton game. I’m really pleased with the result, the reaction, the energy.”

Roberto De Zerbi saluted Joao Pedro after his two-goal display against Tottenham, but admitted he fears the forward’s stay at Brighton may be brief.

Pedro starred in a thrilling 4-2 win for the Seagulls on Thursday night, scoring twice from the penalty spot and also setting up Jack Hinshelwood’s opener.

Brazilian attacker Pedro only moved to Brighton in May for a fee in the region of £30million, but has hit 13 goals for his new club, with seven of them in the last nine matches.

 

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De Zerbi said: “He is the best player on the pitch, I think. He played another incredible game.

“I am really pleased for his improvement on mentality, on attitude. In defensive phase, incredible because he defended 90 minutes like a centre-back in terms of mentality.

“He is becoming, I think, a top player. I hope in the next year to work with him but I think it will be very tough.”

While Pedro tormented Tottenham all night long, it was a superb team display by Brighton, especially for the first hour on the south coast.

To top off an excellent end to 2023, Pervis Estupinan marked his first Premier League appearance since September with a superb 25-yard strike.

“It’s an incredible goal but the most important thing about Estupinan is we recover an important player because we are losing a lot of players on injuries,” De Zerbi admitted.

“We cannot play with 10 or nine players.”

Estupinan’s return from a muscle problem occurred at half-time with fellow left-back Igor Julio forced off with a tendon problem.

Youngster Facundo Buonanotte also had to be replaced with an injury concern and De Zerbi admitted they are initial doubts for the trip to West Ham next week.

He added: “Igor and Facundo suffered injuries. I don’t know if important and I don’t know for the next game in West Ham’s stadium but Igor couldn’t play the second half (due to) a tendon injury.

“And Facundo is a muscular problem.”

De Zerbi also fielded questions on Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, who has been ruled out for four to six weeks with an ankle injury which has placed in doubt his participation in next month’s Asian Cup.

“I hope it can be less than four (weeks), but the medical staff say four, five or six weeks and I am working for Brighton, not for Japan. I can say nothing for Japan,” the Italian insisted.

“I hope for you that Kaoru can play in Asian Cup but I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Brighton have confirmed long-serving board members Derek Chapman and Marc Sugarman will step down as non-executive directors on June 30.

Chapman has been involved with the club since 1999, while Sugarman first joined in 2009.

Tottenham’s Premier League revival was halted in emphatic fashion after two Joao Pedro penalties and a stunning strike from Pervis Estupinan helped injury-hit Brighton record a thumping 4-2 win.

Spurs arrived at the Amex Stadium seeking a fourth successive top-flight success to reclaim fourth spot from reigning champions Manchester City.

But the north London club were ripped apart as Pedro’s double and Estupinan’s thunderbolt added to Jack Hinshelwood’s opener.

Tottenham, who claimed late consolations through substitute Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies, could easily have lost by more as rampant Albion twice hit the woodwork and had a Facundo Buonanotte effort disallowed.

Richarlison struck a post for the visitors and was twice denied by the offside flag, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also hit the woodwork.

Yet, on this evidence, Champions League qualification looks a distant dream for Ange Postecoglou’s side, who had registered just one point from 15 before their recent upturn in form. Victory lifts Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts above Newcastle into eighth.

Depleted were missing eight first-team players while their visitors also had a lengthy list of absentees.

One-time Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck should have opened the scoring for Albion inside six minutes when he was twice denied by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but the Seagulls deservedly edged ahead with 11 minutes on the clock.

Tottenham’s porous defence failed to halt Pedro’s mazy waltz across the 18-yard box and his offload was emphatically dispatched into the roof of the net by 18-year-old defender Hinshelwood.

Brazilian forward Pedro duly doubled the lead with a spot-kick awarded following VAR intervention.

Spurs thought they had escaped when Jan Paul van Hecke’s header from a Pascal Gross corner came back off the right post but replays showed Dejan Kulusevski pulled down Welbeck as he attempted to reach the rebound and Pedro coolly rolled home from 12 yards.

Stunned Spurs showed little response and were in danger of falling further behind. James Milner rattled the right post with a superb curling effort before Buonanotte’s clinical finish was flagged offside.

The away side almost gifted Brighton a third when Pedro was sent through by a calamitous back-pass from Pedro Porro, only to see his attempted dink pushed wide by Vicario.

Postecoglou would undoubtedly have been happy to reach the break only two behind, albeit his side’s predicament nearly improved as Richarlison swept against the outside of the left post in added time.

The Brazilian then put the ball in the net having already been ruled offside and then curled wide before again being denied by the flag of assistant referee Darren Cann.

Tottenham’s frustration was quickly compounded. Seagulls substitute Estupinan, making his first appearance since November 9 due to injury, did the damage, unleashing a thunderous, dipping effort into the top right corner from around 25 yards following Milner’s short corner.

Tormentor-in-chief Pedro rubbed salt into Spurs’ wounds 15 minutes from time by dispatching his second penalty after Evan Ferguson was brought down by Giovani Lo Celso.

Veliz’s first goal in English football, after Kulusevski and Son Heung-min capitalised on sloppy Seagulls defending, eased the embarrassment before Davies’ header from a Porro cross increased the anxiety among home fans.

But Brighton weathered a frantic nine minutes of added time, during which Hojbjerg hit the base of the right post, to claim the points.

England Under-19 international Jack Hinshelwood claimed his first Premier League goal to earn Brighton a 2-1 comeback win over Brentford at the Amex Stadium.

The 18-year-old full-back, making only his fifth top-flight appearance, headed home Pascal Gross’ cross early in the second half, having cleared Yoane Wissa’s effort off his own goal-line just a minute earlier.

Stand-in Albion skipper Gross levelled for the hosts in the opening period after they fell behind against the run of play to a Bryan Mbeumo penalty.

Bees forward Mbeumo was later forced off by a nasty-looking ankle injury on a disappointing evening for the visitors, while his replacement Wissa was perhaps fortunate to avoid a second-half red card for swinging a hand into the face of Billy Gilmour.

The match-winning contribution of Sussex-born Hinshelwood, whose father Adam played 100 league games for Brighton between 2002 and 2009, earned his side a first home victory since September 24 following three successive score draws.

Depleted Brighton were once again without a host of key players due to injuries and suspensions as they went in search of only a second win in their last nine top-flight outings.

The Seagulls shaded a forgettable opening period devoid of goalmouth action before Brentford capitalised on sloppy defending to snatch the lead in the 27th minute with their first attack.

Bees captain Vitaly Janelt was pulled down by Jan Paul van Hecke following an impressive burst into the box and Mbeumo coolly sent Jason Steele the wrong way to find the bottom left corner from 12 yards.

Brighton had scored and conceded in each of their previous 18 Premier League fixtures.

Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts swiftly resumed their intricate interplay and ensured that statistic would continue just four minutes later.

Gross, leading the team in place of the banned Lewis Dunk, thumped home the eye-catching equaliser, taking a touch on the edge of the Bees’ 18-yard box after collecting the ball from Kaoru Mitoma before rifling a left-footed drive into the bottom right corner.

Brentford then suffered a major setback when the hobbling Mbeumo was helped from the field by medical staff after going over on his right ankle.

Teenager Hinshelwood took centre stage after the restart with a couple of key contributions in the space of two minutes to decisively turn the game in Brighton’s favour.

The academy graduate, who joined the club at the age of seven, was alert to deny Wissa a certain goal before rising above Bees substitute Keane Lewis-Potter at the other end to nod in Gross’ scooped cross from the left.

Brentford rarely threatened to snatch a point and could have finished the game a man down after Wissa swung his right arm at Gilmour, which resulted in a booking from referee Peter Bankes.

Brighton had chances to make the result comfortable, with Simon Adingra twice going close, before Hinshelwood jubilantly celebrated a night to remember with the home fans.

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