Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace: Premier League – Three Match Takeaways
By Joe Mcindoe
The Saints Are Capable of Grinding Out a Result
Crystal Palace came into the match day having previously dispatched Tottenham 2-0 in the FA cup and only losing narrowly to Liverpool in a 4-3 thriller.
The opposition proved their metal, being defensively well drilled and willing to attempt to pressure the hosts. This made for an energetic first 45, with both sides looking to force mistakes and challenge for possession.
Wilfried Zaha opened the scoring with a thunderbolt past McCarthy, but it was Saints’ inability to clear adequately or to maintain the ball in sensitive areas that offered up the opportunity. The red and white outfit had three separate chances to quell the danger and failed miserably.
It’s only through the Londoner’s inability to take more of their chances and some off the line heroics from Jan Bednarek that stopped the Eagles claiming a second.
The visitors deserve the most credit for clogging up the pitch and making it extremely difficult to play through. On more than one occasion a Saints’ player came to a complete stop whilst looking for an incisive ball.
The home side may not have been at their best, but a moment of excellence was enough to undo a game resistance.
While the South coast side weren’t on sparkling form, they were far from terrible. Although Saints did make some careless mistakes on occasion, Roy Hodgson’s tactical smarts were the true antidote to Saints creativity. Unfortunately, for the former England manager he is now forced to reflect on how his side failed to convert several priceless game-winning opportunities.
It’s sometimes said that a sign of a good side is being able to under-perform and still come out with a positive result. Southampton have managed to lose similar games to this one and it’s refreshing to see the Saints persevere and toil for their reward.