Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton: Odsonne Edouard’s first-half strike claims victory over Saints

Crystal Palace recorded three consecutive home wins in the Premier League for the first time since 2018 thanks to Odsonne Edouard’s goal seven minutes before half-time.

Patrick Viera’s side pounded Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in the first half, but Saints changed in the second and Che Adams missed two good chances to equalize as Stuart Armstrong hit the post.

This was Hasenhuttl’s 150th league appearance in charge of Southampton and a run of three unbeaten games had eased the pressure on the Austrian ahead of this trip to South-East London.

With games against Newcastle and Liverpool leading up to the World Cup break, the spotlight is now back on him with Saints just two points above the drop zone.

His team immediately came under fire as Palace won a host of early corners and free kicks. Michael Olise’s effort was overturned by Gavin Bazunu, while Luca Milivojevic’s effort passed without danger.

Milivojevic got close when Schlupp broke the right side and withdrew it to the captain of the palace, who saw his shot cannon from Lyanco.

Vieira’s side kept up the pressure and Wilfried Zaha had an excellent chance to put them ahead after being found with a smart move by Eberechi Eze, but the Ivorian pulled it wide of the post.

Southampton was almost all the way back, but did cause a problem of Palace scrambling Moi Elyounoussi’s near post out of James Ward-Prowse’s corner.

Olise was lively for Palace early on, but was lucky enough to escape a booking when he threw himself to the ground under pressure from Mohammed Salisu.

Saints had barely threatened, but did so when Che Adams appeared to have broken the offside trap before cutting in and hitting the ball into the far post, then the flag went up.

Palace looked dangerous every time they came forward and Bazunu had to make a smart save low to his right from Eze’s 20-yard strike after some good work by Schlupp.

Then it was Palace’s turn to write off a goal for offside – this time it was Edouard who was denied.

But the Frenchman was soon on the scoresheet, completing a move started by Zaha who stole the ball from Lyanco and found Tyrick Mitchell whose low cross was touched by the former Celtic striker.

Hasenhuttl responded to a poor first half by signing Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Ibrahima Diallo.

His team started the second half brighter, begging for a penalty after a quick counterattack saw Elyounoussi’s shot hit Marc Guehi’s foot and then his arm, but Michael Salisbury waved the protests away.

Adams then had a great chance to equalize after being found by Ward-Prowse, but his first touch slowed him down and the shot was too close to Vincente Guaita, who easily blocked it.

Seconds later, Guaita made an even more impressive save when he showed quick reflexes to fire Stuart Armstrong’s shot at the post.

Saints found plenty of space on the left and Joe Aribo found Armstrong there again and this time his shot hit the base of the post.

The next opportunity came on the other side where Elyounoussi got possession of the ball and found Adams. He played a nice one-two with Aribo, but again couldn’t find the first finish on his left foot.

Palace substitute Jordan Ayew raced to the right wing twice late in the evening but was unable to pick a team-mate to convert, although Edouard’s goal proved sufficient.

Watch World Cup Player:

Eberechi Eze was lively through the first half which was dominated by Palace and two forced saves from Gavin Bazunu. For Southampton, James Ward-Prowse came into play as his squad grew in confidence, but the Saints skipper is far from being in his best form and looks set to miss England.