Southampton travelled to Selhurst Park for their second away game of the season on Saturday.
Saints posed as Roy Hodgson’s first test as Crystal Palace boss following the controversial sacking of Frank De Boer earlier in the week, after just four games in charge.
The game also saw a landmark for Saints captain Steven Davis, as he made his 200th appearance for Southampton.
Southampton were able to snatch a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park with Davis himelf netting on a milestone of a game for the club. Saints executed an excellent away performance that saw Mauricio Pellegrino’s men dominate possession, nullify Crystal Palace’s attacking threat whilst still creating chances.
After taking the early lead, Southampton only grew in confidence, dominating possession and limiting the hosts to very few chances.
Fraser Forster made two brilliant saves from Christian Benteke and Jason Puncheon respectively either side of half time thanks some fantastic positioning on his part to keep his clean sheet in tact. Forster had a superb game, and Saints fans will hope he can build on this.
Below, we have a review on Mauricio Pellegrino’s managerial performance following the performance against Crystal Palace.
The Starting XI
The starting line-up saw Pellegrino make four changes to the side that lost to Watford with a very lacklustre performance. Maya Yoshida came in and partnered new boy Wesley Hoedt at the expense of Jack Stephens. Sofiane Boufal and James Ward-Prowse were dropped for Dusan Tadic and Mario Lemina, which saw Steven Davis operate further forward in the number 10 role, as he did in the win against West Ham. And the most surprising change of all was Manolo Gabbiadini being dropped for Shane Long – who hasn’t scored since the away win against Sunderland in February.
Out of the three changes, three of them would have been expected or at least unsurprising to see, but the inclusion of Shane Long who had only featured as substitute until the Palace game came as a shock. Pellegrino opted for Long over Gabbiadini to help his side stretch Crystal Palace’s back four and offer some pace to help get in behind their defence.
Credit where it was due, as it was one of Long’s best games for a while despite him failing to find the back of the net. However, a problem still lies in the service to the strikers as Long was very limited with chances.
The Tactics
After the shambolic tactics against Watford, Saints fans saw a massive improvement in the team’s approach against Crystal Palace.
Southampton didn’t allow Crystal Palace to put any sting into the game thanks to their effective dominance in possession and the immense work of Mario Lemina and Oriol Romeu, breaking up any attacking play from the hosts.
As well as dominating in the game Southampton stretched the play by utilising the strengths of Shane Long and having wide players Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond drifting inside, with Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand overlapping, stretching the defence of Crystal Palace.
The Substitutions
Pellegrino made his substitutions very late in the game with all three of the changes coming in and around the last five minutes of the match.
James Ward-Prowse replaced Nathan Redmond in the 85th minute to freshen up the side and help provide more stability in the midfield. The game wasn’t Redmond’s finest in a Southampton shirt and he probably should have been replaced earlier, perhaps for a more creative player so that the visitors could have pushed for a second to kill the game off.
Just two minutes later Pellegrino made his second substitution, which saw Dusan Tadic replaced by Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman made his return to the Saints fold following his long injury, suffered in January, and all the rumours linking the defender with a move to Liverpool. Van Dijk was brought on to help the side deal with the aerial threat of Crystal Palace.
The third and final change came in the second minute of added time when Manolo Gabbiadini replaced Shane Long. Not much to say about this substitution as it seems like it was only used to waste time and run the clock down.
Post-match comments and reaction
Pellegrino was evidently really pleased with the points, performance and focus showed by his side at Selhurst Park.
Pellegrino was pleased with how his side achieved the result at Selhurst Park, saying his side were “focused 100%” and praising how they were always first to the second ball. He was also enthused by the spirit his players showed, especially after the previous result to Watford.
Pellegrino also heaped the praise on Steven Davis, claiming that he is a really positive player, and that his goal was like a trophy for the captain on his 200th appearance for the club.
Overall assessment and mark out of 10
I am going to give Pellegrino a 7/10 for the performance against Crystal Palace.
I was very impressed with how the full backs stretched the game and with how the midfield interchanged in their positioning to try and contribute to the attack. I was also impressed with how solid the back four was, only conceding two real chances. However, with that being said, the lack of service to the strikers is still something that personally concerns me moving forward.
Still, it’s a very good win and now the challenge for Pellegrino is the visit of early pace-setters Manchester United at St Mary’s Stadium next weekend.
