Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson defended Mamadou Sakho after the penalty incident which saw Bournemouth win last night.

Hodgson insisted Sakho had unintentionally elbowed Jefferson Lerma when conceding the penalty that cost Crystal Palace a point in their 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.

He said: "The ball is hit into a crowded area and the referee blew his whistle. We didn't have a clue what had happened at the time.

"Mamadou Sakho has no intention to elbow the player or use an elbow to stop the player getting to the ball.

"I can't deny that, when you see it on the television, he does catch the player and as a result the referee is quite within his rights to give the penalty. It's always frustrating losing to a needless free-kick given away (by Alexander Sorloth, just before the penalty), and then to a penalty.

"(Sakho) feels aggrieved. We are used, in football, when you give a penalty away it's because you've deliberately stopped a player scoring a goal. But not with an unintentional collision."