A typical Palace away performance: let the opposition have plenty of the ball in areas they can’t hurt us; rely on our midfield to blunt most threats, backed up by a superb defence & an in-form goalkeeper to catch anything that does break through; seize on opposition mistakes and punish them ruthlessly at pace. Well, it wasn’t quite perfect today, but the template is good & proven, so even if we rode our luck a little today – and all successful teams need that little bit of good fortune – the result matched that against Stoke. Still hasn’t removed that huge chip labelled “Stamford Bridge ‘76” from my shoulder though...

Palace & Pardew have publicly stated that a strong cup run is one of their aims, and the team selection bore that out. The defence & attack was the same that had started against Chelsea, but there was a complete change in midfield – Cabaye, Ledley & Mutch coming in. On paper that looked fine but once on the pitch the team looked a little lopsided. While Zaha patrolled the right wing, and was able to provide defensive back-up for Ward, on the left it was a different story: after starting on that flank Puncheon drifted infield, and often when Souaré had the ball at his feet he had no-one less than 25 yards from the touchline to aim at. I am guessing this was under instructions as no-one on the away bench was having coronaries. While this did hurt us offensively the real danger was when the Saints attacked down that flank – who was detailed to help out? Puncheon? Mutch? Ledley? All too often we found ourselves outnumbered on the left and most of Southampton’s best attacks in the first half stemmed from that weakness. It was mostly through the hard work of old firm Dann & Delaney that kept the ball out of the net: Delaney somehow stretched his neck at the far post to divert a cross away from the waiting forward, while both men threw themselves at a shot which Dann blocked.

Southampton started with three at the back and it seemed to take Palace around 15 minutes to find their feet in the game. The defence at first seemed shakier than normal, and it was worrying how often Long found space behind our back line. In the first few minutes he escaped and actually rounded Hennessey, only for Delaney’s speed at covering his keeper and a tight angle to defeat the striker; he was to find himself free another couple of times but quick work from Ward & Hennessey prevented any real danger. Saints best chance came when Davies had a free header that he put over the bar. Palace gradually eased their way into the game but too often their best passing was across the back four, rarely getting into the opposition half. Cabaye was having a rare off-day, Mutch was anonymous, while Campbell suffered both from a lack of support and being imposed on by three physically larger central defenders. Our only occasional spark game from Zaha, when we could get the ball to him, and is was surprising to find that Saints had rested Bertrand and Wilf was facing the youngster Targett at left back.

It should come as no surprise that Palace scored with their first serious attack totally against the run of play. It was a suicidal pass in midfield that was picked off by Puncheon in a right-central spot on the halfway line. He pushed forward quickly, not allowing the defence time to reorganise, penetrating the right side of Southampton’s box before crossing for someone in a red & blue shirt to crash home from close range. I thought it was Cabaye at first until the goal was given to Ward – how the right back managed to get up there so fast amazed me! (Suggest he is fined for abandoning defensive duties!) That seemed to knock Southampton’s confidence, and while crosses rained in on our box, Hennessey dealt successfully with most of them (one fumble aside) and actually had only one regulation save to make. If Dann had made good contact with one excellent corner Palace would have gone in at the interval with a two-goal lead.

Now pay attention: The half-time challenge took place at our end off to the right of the goal, where a portable goal was posted, having collapsed once onto the sodden turf. While this doesn’t usually feature in a match report it might have a bearing...

Koeman made a double change, one of those he introduced being Tadić as an attacking option. As often happens the second half was a definite improvement on the first as the game stretched and attacking players found more space. Unfortunately Palace again took time to figure out Southampton’s new formation and our defensive shield failed early on as the ball was allowed to travel across the face of our box without a challenge going in until Mané was played in on our left; his shot was blocked by Hennessey but fell loose and was stabbed home by Romeu. Even worse was Dann staying down for treatment for several minutes although he was able to regain the field after the restart. Pardew’s response was to soon withdraw Mutch and send on Sako, changing to what looked a more rigid 4-4-2. While Sako had little direct influence on the result in terms of direct personal intervention, the change in formation brought more pressure on Southampton’s defence, and with Puncheon now patrolling the left side it gave us a better foundation to build attacks. Hennessey did have to make one full length save from that pest Long but then Palace started to build a little pressure with a couple of corners and a Sako free kick that went high, wide & handsome.

When the breakthrough came it had an unusual origin. A long cross from our right missed everyone and looked to be going out of play to the left of Southampton’s goal – to Palace fans’ right. Campbell, who had again worked hard with little reward, was the only player to chase this lost cause, and the ball held up just before the goal line... in that exact same spot where the goal had collapsed at half-time. Coincidence? With the defence caught out Campbell fed Puncheon, whose shot was arrowing into the top far corner before Stekelenburg intervened. Unfortunately for him he pushed the ball up & out to his left instead of tipping the ball over the bar; doubly unfortunate as it landed on Zaha’s right boot and the volley fizzed past the keeper into the net.

That seemed to fire up Wilf, who apart from tormenting the young left wing-back then had another shot that was saved. Palace introduced Chamakh for Campbell and Jedinak for the off-form Cabaye but it was Southampton who threw men forward. It took a mixture of brave & lucky defending & goalkeeping to retain the lead. Hennessey, having denied Juanmi with another full length save, fumbled another chance and was lucky to see Dann hack the ball clear. From the corner a header was deflected over; from the next Long hit the outside of the post. That had left Chamakh prone of the ground for several minutes just as the board announced 5 minutes stoppage time. Mané had already put another header on the roof of the net when Southampton won one late free kick on the edge of the box that saw Ledley booked, and in the 97th minute Hennessey made one final superb full-length save to push Ward-Prowse’s free kick round the post; the corner that followed was cleared and the final whistle went.

 

 

Ratings:

Hennessey – 8 – A couple of poor kicks, one horrible fumble of a cross in the first half, looked like a second late on that was cleared by Dann. From the far end I’d give him the benefit of the doubt over their goal – it looked like he had to block the first effort and had no real say where the rebound fell. Having said that he made two full-length diving saves in open play in the second half but the highlight was the free kick in stoppage time: Ward-Prowse’s effort was played around the outside of the wall, so it was the wrong side for Wayne and he must have seen the ball late, yet somehow he managed to get across and tip the ball round the post.

Ward – 8 – Strong performance from Joel that silenced the home fans’ boos, although to be fair he was helped out a lot in defence by Zaha. His speed at covering was important in the period Long was able to penetrate behind Dann & Delaney. Even more impressive was his speed & anticipation in following Puncheon’s run and making the move into the box to get on the end of the cross and finish well.

Souaré – 7 – Not helped by the attention of a dedicated midfield support he was often outnumbered down the left, but defended pretty well individually. Second half received better support & was more solid. Continues to impress under the high ball as opponents seek to pray on that “weakness”. Whipped in two good crosses, one in each half, that could have led to more.

Delaney – 8 – When Damian’s legs finally go how the **** are we going to replace him? He manages to be in the right place at the right time so often. Was so again today, the best being tracking Long’s run behind Hennessey so he could block the effort on goal. Simply outstanding.

Dann – 8 – Are we all getting bored with repetitions of how solid & professional Scott Dann was? Sadly he was again today, although there were some early scary moments with Long. Like Delaney throws himself into blocks, taking a knock in a vain attempt to stop the equaliser. If Roy Hodgson has four better central defenders than Scott in England I am deluded.

Cabaye – 5 – First really mediocre display I’ve seen from Yohan. He turned the ball over a few times, and most of his possession was on our side of the halfway line. Never really an influence on the game’s flow.

Ledley – 7 – Did the dirty work in closing down the midfield opposition and put in some good tackles. Had to as his comrades in the middle weren’t on their games.

Mutch – 4 – I’m not sure Mutch has the application to do the hard yards (Ian reckons it’s fitness issues) – his idea of closing down an opponent is to amble towards him, and if he takes off to think about following him for a while. If he was a creative fount then that would be all good & well, but at the moment he is not, and we can’t afford passengers in this League. It was made worse in that after Puncheon drifted infield Jordon was often the midfielder on the left, except he seldom offered width in attack or much help at the back.

Puncheon – 7 – Started poorly, especially when leaving the left flank untenanted, and as usual coughed the ball up cheaply a couple of times. That all changed when in that central position I’d been muttering he shouldn’t be Jason intercepted a poor pass and charged upfield to set up Ward’s goal. Looked more at home on the left side after Sako came on and nearly worried Martina as much as Zaha did to Targett. Was quick to take advantage of Campbell’s hard work & unlucky to see his shot stopped by Stekelenburg, but it fell to Wilf so that’s two assists. Nearly threw it away in stoppage time when trying a crazy cross field ball to Sako that was intercepted, but if Jason was perfect then he’d be elsewhere...

Zaha – 7 – If Southampton decided to rest Ryan Bertrand then that was a huge mistake by Koeman. Wilf ran young Targett ragged, and although he didn’t beat him every time, he did so often enough to send the Saints’ defence scrambling back to cover. In the first half had one good run & cross but was often starved of the ball. Saw a lot more in the second when he linked well with Sako *****il the last minutes). Also helped out defensively a lot. Finally his volley was technically perfect for the winning goal.

Campbell – 5 – Ran hard but with no reward or end product, often beaten in the air by Fonte & Van Dijk. Unlucky when seemed to be impeded when going for a Souaré cross in the second half. However it was his refusal to give up what looked an obvious lost cause that created the opening for the winning goal. Points for attitude & approach but sadly lacks Wickham’s physicality or Gayle’s instinctive skills.

Sako – 6 – His arrival changed the match’s direction although after some initial touches Bakary didn’t do much beyond some good interplay with Zaha and a free kick wasted. What he did do was attract attention from Southampton’s central defenders and allow more space elsewhere on the pitch which the wingers exploited. One incident did annoy me – late in the game Zaha made a long run then laid the ball off for Sako bursting outside him: except Sako hadn’t moved. In fact he stood statuesque moaning at Wilf – even if he didn’t move for the pass he could have closed down the defender who picked up the ball on the corner flag & penned him in. It was a sloppy moment.

Chamakh – 5 – His first three acts after coming on were to fall over (twice) and give away a free kick. It did improve slightly after that but was seldom influential, and took a late knock in our box that saw him down for a couple of minutes.

Jedinak – 6 – Came on to stiffen the middle and made some good tackles, one bad one, and helped defend the aerial threat.