Crystal Palace fan arrested after attacking Damien Delaney with Eagles 4-0 down to Sunderland
The supporter confronted the Palace defender at half-time as the relegation-threatened sides left the pitch
A CRYSTAL PALACE fan has been arrested after he tried to attack Eagles defender Damien Delaney during their match against Sunderland.
Sam Allardyce chose not to condemn the incident at Selhurst Park and instead apologised to supporter - saying his side must accept the criticism.
The incident happened as the teams left the pitch at half time with Sunderland 4-0 up, with the man having to be restrained.
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Lamine Kone put the Black Cats 1-0 up ten minutes in, before a mad few minutes put paid to Palace's chances just before half-time.
Didier Ndong added a second after 43 minutes, followed by a quickfire Jermain Defoe double in first-half stoppage time.
There were no further goals in the second half, with the Eagles unable to do the double over Sunderland for the first time in their history.
Sunderland began the day in 20th, just two places below 18th-placed Palace.
The home side's 2-0 victory at Bournemouth in midweek was their first in the league since the start of December.
Meanwhile, today's game was Sunderland's first win since beating Watford on 17th December.
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Palace had lost their previous five home league games before the visit of Sunderland - clearly causing one fan's frustrations to boil over.
The result means the Eagles drop to 19th, with only goal difference keeping them above the bottom-placed Black Cats.
Allardyce refused to condemn the shameful Selhurst Park violence.
Instead, the Palace boss issued a grovelling apology to fans who abused his side.
One yob was arrested after confronting defender Damien Delaney on the pitch, while others fought with stewards and security guards at the final whistle.
But Allardyce insisted: “The players have to accept the abuse for their performance. It’s not often they get much stick but they deserved booing.
“If you don’t perform to the level required, you have to expect fans to show their disapproval.”
Allardyce and his players were abused at half-time and at the end of the humiliating 4-0 home defeat to Sunderland, they fell to second-bottom.
And the Selhurst boss added: “The fans expect to see a lot more entertainment than they’ve had here all season.
“The fans here don’t put the players under huge pressure compared to some of the other clubs I’ve managed at.
“They want to support their team but we’ve got to give them something to get behind — and we didn’t do that so I can only apologise for what they saw today.”
Stewards had to restrain fans who lunged at the players as they headed down the tunnel.
And stunned talkSPORT producer James Dodd tweeted: “Shocking scenes at Selhurst Park.
“Stewards holding back ‘supporters’ by the tunnel and few of the stewards have been punched. Disgrace.”