Southampton beat a tentative Crystal Palace side low on confidence and out of ideas for much part of the game. The Eagles were beaten 1-0 by the Saints at Selhurst Park in what was their first game after the departure of Frank De Boer.
One can simply not reach their ambitions in 4 games and hence under Roy Hodgson, they looked clueless and barely got anything right except maybe concede just once.
Southampton ticked all boxes and kept Palace in control throughout the game. The goal was scored by Steven Davis, who left unmarked and had an easy finish. The away side proved their quality and scored in the sixth minute, taking charge early.
Pellegrino’s side have started fairly well and find themselves in the top half of the table while Crystal Palace are staring down the barrel at the bottom of the table.
Here are our Southampton player ratings:
Fraser Forster – 8/10
Two excellent saves, out of which one needed fine reflexes!
Cedric Soares – 7/10
A good performance, but compared to his teammates, he was a little dim as he allowed Townsend space down his side.
Maya Yoshida – 7.5/10
Tidy performance with the tackles, blocks and clearances.
Wesley Hoedt – 8/10
Very confident display, stood his ground, proved to be a wall. He was at his best with those long diagonals to the frontmen.
Ryan Bertrand – 8.5/10
Classy fullback defending, most importantly he played to his strengths. Was impressive up and down the pitch.
Oriol Romeu – 8/10
Strong and sturdy, he cut the Eagles’ wings whenever they tried to burst forward.
Mario Lemina – 9/10
Player of the match! He drilled the play forward with ease, used good technical quick feet to get past players and off the ball, got into position rather quickly.
Steven Davis – 8.5/10
Scored the goal, which he initiated. He looked very comfortable and had excellent understanding with Lemina as to who goes front and who holds his line.
Dusan Tadic – 8/10
Stuck to his basics well, crossed into the box for fun at times, held on to the ball well and was the most threatening player with his crosses.
Nathan Redmond – 7/10
Drove forward and was confident in possession. His end product wasn’t the best, though.
Shane Long – 8/10
Showed good work rate, kept the opposition defenders busy throughout, possessed incredible movement wherever he saw space behind. Just lacked a goal to show for his efforts.
Substitutes
James Ward-Prowse – 6.5/10
Didn’t make any real impact, just dropped deep to maintain the lead and see the game off.
Manolo Gabbiadini – NA
Virgil van Dijk – NA
Image source: Umaxit Football