January 3 2018

James McArthur

Crystal Palace came from behind again to win 2-1 at Southampton. Mike Scott gives us his player scores.

The Saints apparently did not lose a single game they scored first in during 2017. It look only two days of 2018 for Palace to ensure they did not repeat the record for this year.

In a game of two halves, the Eagles looked tired and went behind, before some inspiring tactical changes from Roy Hodgson saw them put on an excellent last hour an hour or so’s performance…

Wayne Hennessey - 7

After an absolutely flawless game against Manchester City, Hennessey kept his place and put in another decent display. A few minutes before Southampton scored through a close range Shane Long strike he could do nothing about, he made an excellent fingertip save to push a Pierre-Emile Hojberg shot over the bar.

Other than that, he made some solid saves from a few long-range efforts, taking them all in rather than punching anything out. His long balls caused issues in terrible weather conditions, with Zaha almost scoring a third for the visitors straight from a clearance.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah - 7

The Man-of-the-Match against City, Fosu-Mensah had a quieter game against Saints, who caused him little trouble for large periods of the game. He was arguably too far away from Shane Long for the goal, but didn’t do much else wrong and played with similar assurance to Sunday’s game.

Sofiane Boufal kept him busy when Southampton were creating chances, but the threat faded and he got forwarded as the game went on. Was unlucky to not be laid off a great one-on-one chance when Benteke took a shot on the turn on himself instead.

Martin Kelly - 7

With Scott Dann definitely now out for the remainder of the season, it was reassuring to see another strong display from Kelly alongside Tomkins in central defence. Along with Fosu-Mensah, he was only a spectator standing several yards from Shane Long for the goal, but precious few other decent opportunities from the home side underline how well Palace defended. The exception to that was a chance in the first few seconds of the game, when Kelly seemed to have not quite switched on yet, allowed Long to almost score from the kick off.

James Tomkins - 7

With Southampton struggling to score this season and without a win in eight, it was surprising how busy a time Tomkins had for the first third of the game. Some key blocks from Tomkins to kill moves, especially runs from Dusan Tadic, were key to keeping Palace in the game at 1-0. In the second half, he had a quiet time of it, but showed some coolly-executed passing and build-up play. The Eagles didn’t take advantage of set-pieces, so he didn’t get much chance to make the kind of attacking impact he has had for corners recently.

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Jeffrey Schlupp - 6

In Hodgson’s post-match interviews, he mentioned that he felt sorry for Schlupp, who was swapped for Bakary Sako (8) on 64 minutes, with Patrick van Aanholt taking over at left back, having himself come on at half time. The suggestion is that he backs Schlupp more as his first choice wing back. In truth, he had a tough evening, with James Ward-Prowse and Jeremy Pied having a lot of joy down his flank and Palace looking vulnerable down Southampton’s right for much of the first half.

Sako proved, again, to be the injection Palace needed. Instantly causing issues on both wings, he won the free kick that led to the equaliser. By the end, he was holding two and three players off while he ran the clock down. He’s definitely becoming a real Palace cult hero.

Luka Milivojevic - 9

A lot of credit must be given to the Serbian for his immaculate strike from outside the box to earn Palace all three points. He was a worthy Man-of-the-Match, although he had a hard time of it in the first half, battling hard to protect his defence against a rampant Southampton early onslaught. He seems to have got rid of those wayward passes too. One of his best performances of the season, without doubt.

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Yohan Cabaye - 6

Cabaye had a tough time on the ball, with some poor passes and providing some uncharacteristically average set-pieces, although he put in a strong shift in defence, keeping Palace’s deficit down to one. He looked thoroughly exhausted from a punishing recent schedule and was substituted for Patrick van Aanholt (7). Initially, Van Aanholt took over a midfield role and looked like a decent outlet, with some promising set pieces too. Following Sako’s introduction, he went back to the familiar role of left back, without being too heavily tested for the rest of the game.

James McArthur - 8

Few Palace players could come off at half-time with too much credit, but McArthur’s work rate was one of the few pluses. In the second half, he began to dictate the middle of the pitch and fed some decent balls through to Townsend. Was in the right place at the right time again for Palace’s equaliser, finding himself several yards away from any Saints defender and finishing a chance that was harder than it looked by hammering it into the roof of the net. Ex-Palace keeper Alex McCarthy could have done more to come out and close down his angles, but the Scot won’t have been complaining…

Andros Townsend - 8

Townsend caused Southampton immense problems, playing right across the pitch in front of their defence. His shot a few minutes in was the first to trouble Alex McCarthy and he was involved in most of Palace’s threats throughout the game from then on. It was his hoisted ball that found the head of Benteke and set up McArthur’s goal; it was his inch perfect ball to Milivojevic that led to the winner. As ever, he put in a defensive shift too.

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Wilfried Zaha - 7

For long periods, Zaha was kept at bay by a resolute Southampton defence and, in particular, he found it hard to get the better of Oriel Romeu. The two had constant aggressive battles throughout the game, with the Spaniard clearly tasked with shadowing Zaha for the game. The good thing was that Zaha’s marking tactics seem to give Townsend and others more space. Zaha had a golden opportunity to kill the game with a huge clearance from Hennessey finding him following a defensive error, but he ballooned the shot over.

Christian Benteke - 6

Virtually a passenger for much of the first half, he had no service and Palace created little. In the second, he had time and space (perhaps because of Zaha being the focus of Southampton’s attention) and created a lot more, including an assist for the equaliser. He had a good chance to score himself, which he created by a good turn on the edge of the box. His desire to score a second for the season maybe meant he missed Fosu-Mensah in space, but his shot was decent and it was well saved by Alex McCarthy. He looked more comfortable with Hodgson’s slightly changed tactics for the game, too.