Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace: Saints move further clear of bottom three

Southampton ended a great week with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday to move further clear of the bottom three.

After a cagey first period, Palace went ahead early in the second-half through James Tomkins but Saints hit back late on through the predatory Danny Ings.

Despite a lively start from Saints, it was Crystal Palace who thought they had gone ahead after 15 minutes.

Wilfried Zaha crossed low for Luka Milivojevic to turn home, but VAR intervened to show that Zaha had been offside by the barest of margins in the build-up.

A lucky escape for Saints who have seen VAR help them out on a number of occasions this season.

Meanwhile, the tension between Zaha and James Ward-Prowse from last season looked to have carried over to this game, with a feisty, competitive edge to proceedings in the first-half.

Both sides had promising attacks thwarted in the first period, but neither goalkeeper was forced into making a save with no shots on target.

For that reason it seemed like one goal could be enough for either side, and Palace opened the scoring shortly into the second-half.

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A clever set-piece saw Milivojevic’s delivery clipped towards the penalty spot for James Tomkins to head inside the near post.

It was proving difficult for Saints to break the visitors down and chances had still been at a premium right up until the 74th minute.

A loose back pass from Palace gave an opportunity for the alert Danny Ings nip in and have a clear shot on goal – an opening that he was never going to pass up in his current form as the ball hit the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season.

As is often the case, the momentum of the game swung suddenly and Saints were then on the front foot.

In the closing stages, Palace shot-stopper Vicente Guiata made three saves that were crucial in keeping a point for his side come full time.

First he tipped over a goal-bound effort from substitute Moussa Djenepo after a superb run from the Malian, and then turned James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick wide with the ball also heading for the target.

Ings’ flicked header at the near post as he met a corner too almost snuck in, but Guiata was again equal to it.

As the referee blew his final whistle, Saints probably felt a mix of emotions: Positivity after seven points from the last nine on offer and a draw saved here, but perhaps a slight feeling of disappointment after not getting a winner.

However, a four-point gap now sees them comfortably above the drop zone ahead of league and cup fixtures against Spurs and Huddersfield respectively.