Roy Hodgson’s honeymoon period at Palace lasted six minutes, as Saints made off with the points at Selhurst.
Updated
Sat 16 Sep 2017 09.26 EDT
First published on Sat 16 Sep 2017 06.30 EDT
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Key events
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton
And that’s that! No dream start for Roy Hodgson, then: his team remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, pointless and goalless. Saints meanwhile launch themselves up the table to fifth, for a couple of hours at least. Hodgson congratulates his opposite number Pellegrino - “Well played!” - then trudges off with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’s got quite the job on here.
90 min +4: Ward looks for the top-right corner from 25 yards. He finds the top-right corner of the stand.
90 min +3: Schlupp tries to clear upfield, but Ward-Prowse hassles and harries. The episode ends in a goal kick, but there’s more time eaten up successfully by Saints.
90 min +2: Benteke comes back into his own half to win the ball back. But all he does is bowl Romeu over, and that’s a free kick that’ll allow Saints to run down the clock a bit further.
90 min +1: Gabbiadini comes on for Long.
90 min: Palace throw it into the mixer. Forster gathers. Van Dijk waves his arms around, organising in the I’m In Charge style. There will be five extra minutes.
89 min: Cedric twists and turns down the right and slaps a shot goalwards from just inside the box. It’s gathered easily enough by Hennessey.
87 min: Tadic is replaced by the returning Virgil van Dijk. He seems to get a fair enough reception from the away support. Almost as though most of the heat and noise surrounding transfer talk is generated by the media and on the internet, well away from the real world.
86 min: Bertrand earns a corner for Saints down the left. It’s hit long, and Ward tries to hook a ball over his own head and into the top right from the right-hand corner of the box. Ambitious, to say the least. Up the other end, Yoshida blasts a common-or-garden clearance into the back of Lemina. The ball rebounds into the arms of Forster.
85 min: Ward-Prowse comes on for Redmond.
84 min: Townsend shimmies in from the left, and curls deep for Sako. But Bertrand stands firm and blocks his man in a fair tussle. The ball flies out for a goal kick.
82 min: Dann miscontrols in the midfield. Long goes scampering off. Dann has no option but to drag him back. That’s Palace’s fifth booking of the game. It’s not been a dirty match, this, but there you have it. I’m feeling old.
81 min: Once again, Saints find a bit of joy down the right. Cedric and Tadic combine, though eventually the ball’s run out for a goal kick. This flank has been a serious problem for Palace all afternoon.
80 min: The impressive Lemina goes on a George Best skitter, left to right on the diagonal, and nearly works enough space in the area for a shot. But he’s swarmed by Palace defenders, and slips the ball wide left to Redmond. Redmond hesitates, though earns a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
78 min: Hodgson is booed by his own fans! The reason? He replaces the impressive Loftus-Cheek with Sako. Only a smattering of dissent, to be fair, but even so! They work fast round Palace these days.
77 min: Long is booked for complaining, no free kick forthcoming after his being brought down by Ward.
76 min: Cabaye’s delivery is appalling. Easily cleared by Saints.
75 min: Palace are awarded a very cheap free kick out on the right, Ward losing control of the ball, but being lightly brushed in the back by Redmond a split second afterwards. A chance for Palace to load the box.
73 min: Fosu-Mensah goes down holding his ankle. That looked a sore one, but he’s up quickly enough, after a bit of treatment, and looks good to continue.
71 min: Palace enjoy a little possession in the midfield. They go nowhere, but they’ve not kept hold of the ball well today, so it’s better than nothing. Small acorns, and all that.
69 min: McArthur is hooked in favour of Milivojevic. And there’s another good run by Loftus-Cheek down the left. He earns a corner, which is headed out harmlessly by Dann, but this is a little better from Palace, who have improved in this second half, even if that’s not saying a whole lot.
68 min: McArthur is booked for a clumsy slide on Bertrand. Then the lively Loftus-Cheek goes racing down the left, gets the better of Lemina, and crosses for Benteke. But Hoedt contorts his body to hook away.
66 min: For the 387th time this afternoon, Tadic is sent away down the right, this time by a clever reverse ball from Long. To give Schlupp some credit this time, he hares back and stops Tadic in his tracks with a glorious saving tackle, but it should never have come to that. Long races over to try to latch onto the loose ball that’s sprung from the tackle. He pings off Schlupp and goes flying into the stand in the slapstick style. All good knockabout fun.
65 min: ... there’s nowt of note.
64 min: Tadic is once again found in preposterous space down the right. This is a joke; Palace haven’t closed him down this afternoon at all. He should set Long free down the inside-right and into the area with a diagonal sliding pass, but plays it too close to the back-pedalling Dann and the defender slides across to block out for a corner. From which ...
62 min: A free kick out on the right for Saints, Cedric having been upended by a combination of McArthur, Cabaye and Puncheon. The latter, having already been booked, is the recipient of a stern lecture by the referee. He’s on his final warning. To be fair, he hasn’t really done much that’s so awful this afternoon, it’s only fair he’s cut a little slack.
60 min: Cabaye, in the centre circle, quarterbacks long for Benteke. The big striker rises on the edge of the area, and clanks a header miles wide left, and high to boot.
59 min: It is tipping down in south London. Stair rods. Meanwhile the Saints, after rocking early in the half, have reestablished their earlier dominance. They’re first to everything again.
57 min: Ward is booked for a foul committed a couple of minutes earlier, when he dallied on the ball, allowed Davis to run off with it, and rugby tackled him to the floor.
56 min: And now it’s Southampton’s turn to pass up a great chance to score. They ping the ball around awhile, then Redmond bursts into the box down the right. His cross is missed by everyone, then recycled by Tadic out on the left. Tadic chips the ball back into the centre, and Long should plant a header home from six yards. But he fails to connect properly, and after a little pinball, the danger is gone.
54 min: Virgil van Dijk warms up on the touchline. Meanwhile on the pitch, Saints have slipped into game-management mode. The referee has a word as Long takes his sweet time over a throw.
52 min: Thing is, Palace have been pretty poor so far, all told. And they still could, arguably should, have scored on three separate occasions. That surely augurs well. They just need the dam to break.
50 min: Puncheon is booked for a frustrated clatter into the back of Tadic. And a period of pressure is released.
49 min: It’s a slightly subdued Selhurst. And then the roof suddenly nearly comes off! First, Loftus-Cheek dribbles down the right, reaches the byline, and fizzes a low ball through the six-yard box. How did that stay out?! How did Cabaye and Benteke miss it? Then Schlupp drifts in from the left and sets up Puncheon, who has to score from six yards, but Forster blocks brilliantly and Lemina knocks it clear calmly. Much better from Palace, who should be level! When will they score?
47 min: It doesn’t lead to much, but Lemina sells McArthur an outrageous dummy in the midfield, a trick that incorporates a subtle drag-back. He looks a very fine signing indeed.
And we’re off again! Saints get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton
Roy Hodgson storms off in the businesslike fashion. He’ll need to give his team a good talking-to. They’ve been bossed by Saints. The plus points: they’ve nevertheless still managed to create a couple of chances, while their opponents are a little blunt up front, despite their dominance everywhere else. It promises to be a fascinating second half.
45 min +1: So having said that, Palace nearly equalise, Townsend scampering after a long ball down the inside-left channel and sending a screaming, dipping shot just over the bar from an angle!
45 min: The half-time whistle can’t come quickly enough for Palace, who are reduced to a shambles. They’re second to absolutely everything. Redmond crafts more space for himself, this time in a central position, but his shot from 25 yards is weak and easily gathered by Hennessey.
44 min: Palace are hanging on here. Redmond skedaddles into their area from the left, then cuts the ball back for Tadic, whose shot from the penalty spot is blocked.