Southampton’s match day one woes continued with a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Ralph Hasenhuttl picked an unsurprising side for the first match of 2020-21. With Stuart Armstrong out via injury, his only real selection was at right attacking-mid which he chose Will Smallbone. Fans clearly wanted the flair of Moussa Djenepo, but it is possible he is still not ready for the starting eleven.
Southampton started the game positively, finding the bulk of possession while Palace sitting back on the counter. However, the Eagles were rewarded with their tactics as a pass between Oriol Romeu and Nathan Redmond lacked connection and Andros Townsend was off to goal. After driving the ball down the right hand side, he found Wilfried Zaha at the back post who was hard pressed to miss with his side foot.
Saints fans will be very disappointed with the first half play. Danny Ings and Che Adams were rarely on the ball and Smallbone and Redmond did little to create chances. Walker-Peters and Bertrand appeared to be the way through the Palace defence, but there were no real chances from open play.
Jannik Vestergaard was the impact sub to begin the second half. Ralph’s plan to get behind the Palace back line was the 40 yard Danish diaganol. Surprisingly it was extremely effective in the first 15 minutes, with Vestergaard being to the focal point of three Southampton chances.
Southampton were twice the beneficiary of VAR as Kyle Walker-Peters was shown a red and overturned. Wilfried Zaha was later deemed offside by centimetres after scoring a goal that would have ended the game promptly.
Danny Ings finally got his chance late on, but his flashed header from a Walker-Peters’ cross was denied by Vicente Guaita who was brilliant throughout the match. It was yet another opening day letdown for a darkhorse Saints team who lacked the final punch to get them over the line. Here are the player ratings for the Southampton side who will start the season at the bottom of the Premier League.