Southampton 1-2 Crystal Palace: Player Ratings

6. One positive in the past week has been the performances of McCarthy. He has looked a lot more composed than Fraser Forster between the sticks, and has shown that he can command his area better than his counterpart. In this game, he made a great low save to deny Christian Benteke a goal but was left helpless by poor defending for the away side’s two second-half strikes.. Goalkeeper. Southampton. ALEX MCCARTHY

Right-Back. Southampton. JEREMY PIED. 7. Perhaps Southampton’s strongest performer in this match. Making just his second league start of the campaign, he was strong against Palace’s main attacking threat in Wilfried Zaha and provided good width when his side countered. He would also produce the low ball across the area for Shane Long’s 17th minute opener.

5. Moved across to his natural position of Centre-Back for this game after some decent showings at Right-Back. However, he looked unsure in this game and would make a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes; including one which lead to a great chance for Zaha to put Palace 3-1 up.. Centre-Back. Southampton. JACK STEPHENS

5. Like Stephens, Yoshida looked nervous when Palace upped the pressure in the second-half. Neither Centre-Back would be able to stifle Benteke enough, and the Belgian looked a danger all evening because of this. The Japanese international is likely to keep his place in the side for the next league games alongside Wesley Hoedt.. Centre-Back. Southampton. MAYA YOSHIDA

5. Returned to the side following injury, and put in a decent display. Bertrand’s experience is going to be needed in the long run as Saints scrap for points. Building a better understanding with Sofiane Boufal will also be key to make the left side more prominent in Saints attacks.. Left-Back. Southampton. RYAN BERTRAND