03 February 2024 , 21:52
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Joachim Andersen had a second run-in with Crystal Palace fans in the space of a month, following his team's heavy defeat at the hands of Brighton.
The Danish international had fronted up after a 5-0 hammering at Arsenal in Palace's previous away game. And, after Brighton's 4-1 win made it three straight defeats on the road, Andersen found himself face to face with his team's fanbase once more.
Palace's travelling fans made their feelings clear about the team and about manager Roy Hodgson following the reverse. The Eagles sit five points clear of the relegation zone after 23 games, but have yet to win back-to-back league games all season long.
Footage shared on social media from after the final whistle at the Amex Stadium shows Andersen approaching fans at the front of the stands, while team-mate Jefferson Lerma follows close behind. Eventually, coach Paddy McCarthy is seen stepping in to pull the former Lyon defender away.
Palace went into the game off the back of a dramatic victory over Sheffield United in midweek, while Brighton were hammered by Luton in their last outing. It was Roberto De Zerbi's team who took control early on, though, racing into a three-goal half-time lead thanks to goals from Lewis Dunk, Jack Hinshelwood and Facundo Buonanotte.
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The Eagles, who also lost Marc Guehi to injury before half-time, rung the changes and were rewarded when Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled a goal back. Brighton had the final word, though, with Joao Pedro scoring their fourth of the afternoon.
Michael Olise was an injury risk going into the game and was thrown on at half-time, only to suffer a setback. After the game, Hodgson explained his decision to throw on the French under-21 international during an afternoon to forget, while also giving his thoughts on Andersen's behaviour.
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Andersen was eventually pulled away by coach Paddy McCarthy (REX/Shutterstock)"The fans are going to be very unhappy after seeing their team losing 4-1, so if you go over there you run the risk," the veteran manager told Sky Sports. "You have to show the discipline not to bite back. I think the players did the right thing.
"We are happy the fans have come to support today. No one is less happy than ourselves with the result but at least they went over to thank the fans."
On Olise, he said: "They told me - and he told me - that he was fine to be on the bench and to play in the second half. Unfortunately I wasn’t to know that was going to lead to a recurrence of his injury. That’s exactly what we did.
"You can say ‘you were losing 3-0, why put one of your better players on?’ But it’s because we bought him all the way here to be on the field in the second half."