Crystal Palace beat Southampton 2-1 to secure second home win

LONDON: Crystal Palace edged past last-placed Southampton 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday, securing their second home win in the Premier League this season thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Trevor Chalobah.

The victory lifted Palace one place in the standings to 15th, while Southampton remain winless under new manager Ivan Juric, suffering a second consecutive defeat following their 1-0 Boxing Day loss to West Ham United.

Southampton had the more energetic start and took the lead in the 14th minute after Kyle Walker-Peters skipped past Daniel Munoz and his cross found Adam Armstrong, who set up Tyler Dibling for a simple tap-in.

Palace pressed hard for an equaliser and made it 1-1 in the 31st minute when Chalobah headed in from a corner. Southampton appealed for a foul, claiming Jean-Philippe Mateta had impeded goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, but VAR upheld the goal.

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Palace finally took the lead in the 52nd minute when Munoz’s cross was cleared by Southampton’s defence, and the ball fell to Eze just outside the 18-yard box where the Englishman unleashed a powerful shot into the bottom corner, leaving Ramsdale with no chance.

Palace grew in confidence as the game progressed and towards the end of the second half, Eze nearly grabbed a second goal from a free-kick which cleared the Saints’ wall but was saved by Ramsdale.

At the other end, Palace’s defence dealt with Southampton’s set-pieces, leaving goalkeeper Dean Henderson with little to do, while Ramsdale saved another after Ismaila Sarr’s cross deflected dangerously off Walker-Peters towards goal.