Redmond sees his Saints home while Zaha is frustrated
WILFRIED ZAHA sparked a half-time bust-up by poking James Ward-Prowse in the face.
On a feisty night at Selhurst Park, Palace’s crown jewel was lucky to escape serious censure after sparking a melee that spilled over into handbags in the tunnel.
Zaha and visiting defender Jannik Vestergaard became embroiled in a shoving match as Saints enjoyed a return to one of their happiest hunting grounds.
Palace, booed off at the interval, can be dealt with in short measure. They got what they deserved
– nothing.
Zaha’s petulance summed up their frustration, but this is unlikely to be a damaging defeat in the long run. Three more wins will secure Premier League safety.
But Saints – seven wins in 11 games – were superb, and man-of-the-match Nathan Redmond’s twinkling feet led the Eagles a merry dance.
The comfort zone is unfamiliar terrain for both sides, especially before Easter, but neither is going down.
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl could even afford the luxury of leaving top scorer Danny Ings on the bench as a precaution against plague or pestilence ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie with jittery Tottenham.
Saints were assertive from the outset here.
Although defender Cedric Soares was forced to retire hurt after Jairo Riedewald’s full-blooded challenge – and they were lucky when on-loan Cenk Tosun blazed over the top on his home debut – they were good value for their lead after 23 minutes.
Redmond spun 25 yards out, brushed off James McArthur’s feeble escort and launched a thunderous finish intoVicente Guaita’s top corner.
Stuart Armstrong was twice close to doubling the visitors’ lead before Zaha’s cabaret with his wayward index finger – and the handbags that followed – enlivened a moribund Palace display. The Eagles were booed off at the interval while the push-andshove was going on in the tunnel, but they had not had time to purge their grievances when Armstrong struck within three minutes of the restart, whipping a fine 25-yard shot into the corner.
Shane Long missed a fine chance to rub salt in Palace’s wounds, but his weak finish could not remove the gloss from a polished Saints performance.
PALACE (4-5-1): Guaita 6; Kelly 5 (Ward, 62, 6), Tomkins 7, Cahill 5, Riedewald 5; McCarthy 5, McArthur 5, Kouyate 5 (Meyer 62, 5) Zaha 6, Tosun 6; (Wickham, 70, 5), Ayew 6. SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): McCarthy 6; Soares 6 (Romeu, 21, 7), Stephens 7, Vestergaard 6, Bertrand 7; WardProwse 7, Hojbjerg 7, Armstrong 7, Redmond 8; Obafemi 7 (Adams, 84), Long 7 (Ings, 69, 6).Goals: Redmond 22, Armstrong 48.