The first half was a rather dull affair. Morgan Schneiderlin had a chance in the eighth minute, sending his header over Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni, but a defender was there to clear the ball off the line. Other than that close chance for Southampton, the most interesting thing to happen was when Marouane Chamakh got himself behind the Saints’ defense and found himself one on one with Artur Boruc. Rather than make the most of a good opportunity, the Palace defender flopped over, hoping for the call, and instead found himself booked for diving.
The hosts put themselves in charge early in the second half, and had the result sorted out by the time the 50th minute rolled around. First Pablo Osvaldo put himself on the scoresheet, with the record signing getting his first goal for Southampton. Adam Lallana took advantage of some poor Palace defending to slot the ball over to Osvaldo, whose low shot fired past Speroni’s outstretched palm.
Rickie Lambert was not about to let himself be outdone by Southampton’s shiny new toy. The England international scored his own just two minutes after Osvaldo scored the first, his free kick from 25 yards flying into the back of the Palace goal.
From then on, Southampton were in the driver’s seat, and Mauricio Pochettino had every intention of keeping them there. The tactician made his subs with defense in mind, and after the 60th minute, the Saints found very little need to take a chance on a shot.
Southampton: Boruc; Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw; Wanyama, Steven Davis (Ward-Prowse 67), Schneiderlin, Lallana (Ramirez 86); Osvaldo, Lambert (Rodriguez 77)
Subs not used: K. Davis, Cork, Chambers, Hooiveld
Crystal Palace: Speroni; Ward, Mariappa, Gabbidon, Moxey; Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Bannan (Jerome 57), Kebe (Phillips 73); Gayle (Thomas 58), Chamakh.
Subs not used: Price, Parr, Campana, O’Keefe
