Crystal Palace fans accidentally vandalise their own team bus  

Crystal Palace team coach
Images posted on Twitter reveal the damage done to the team coach  Credit: Twitter @JackWillis 

South London vandals have defaced Crystal Palace's team bus after believing it belonged to their Premier League relegation rivals, Middlesbrough.

The coach, which was parked at a hotel nearby Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park stadium, was spray-painted with the words 'Crystal Palace FC' in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The vandals sprayed the club's name in red, white and blue paint across the sides and rear of the coach. Despite the damage, Sam Allardyce's team still used the vehicle ahead of their bottom of the table clash with Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon. 

Crystal Palace's assistant head groundsman, Dean Waters, posted a tweet condemning the vandals and revealing their error.

"£40,000 worth of damage on our coach thinking it was the Boro coach. Nice one! #cpfc,” Waters tweeted, before changing his privacy settings so that the post was no longer available for the public to read. 

A Crystal Palace confirmed on Sunday evening that the team's coach has been vandalised and that police had been notified of the incident.

“The team bus was covered in graffiti with the words ‘Crystal Palace’ overnight on Friday ahead of the game on Saturday. Police have been informed,” a spokesman told the Sun Sport.

Sam Allardyce 
Sam Allardyce secured his first home Premier League win as manager  Credit: Reuters 

The incident occurred hours before Crystal Palace secured a crucial 1-0 win over Middlesbrough that lifted them out of the relegation zone.

The victory was Sam Allardyce's first home Premier League win as Crystal Palace manager, lifting the Eagles one point clear of the Leicester City in 18th place. 

“A very important win, a very important goal and a very important clean sheet for us,” Sam Allardyce said after the game.

“We knew that when Middlesbrough decided to launch it forward in the last 10-15 minutes, we had to show that resilience.

“Resilience when we needed it, quality in the final third, and a fantastic goal.”

Sam Allardyce's team next play in-form West Brom who moved up to eighth in the Premier League table with 2-1 win over Bournemouth. 

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