Eagles in for the long run
ENGLISH ACTION Roy: Unwanted records aren’t final woe
Roy Hodgson warned Palace fans more “painful” moments lie in store after starting his Selhurst Park reign with a historic defeat.
Steven Davis’ early strike saw the Eagles become the first ever English top-flight team to lose each of their opening five league games without scoring a goal.
And no team have gone so long since the start of a Premier League season without a goal as the home side surpassed Newcast le’s wait of 438 minutes 12 seasons ago.
Ex-England boss Hodgson only replaced the sacked Frank de Boer last Tuesday and with Chelsea and both Manchester sides up next he admits their Premier League pain isn’t over yet.
The 70-year-old said: “The major disappointment is the attitude and the desire of the players that was obvious to us even in the two or three days we’ve been training didn’t get any kind of reward.
“It wasn’t even really that evident in terms of the quality of football we were playing.
“So now it’s five defeats, it’s zero points, it is a really tough programme ahead if you look at the quality of the opponents.
“It is painful today and I fear it is going to be painful in some of the moments going forward.
“We’ve got to try very hard to make certain that people don’t dig themselves into a grave. The statistics dig us into a grave but only what we do on the football field
can get us out of it or make the situation worse.”
It took only six minutes for Southampton to underline the challenge Hodgson faces.
Dusan Tadic beat Jeffrey Schlupp and though his cross was palmed out by keeper Wayne Hennessey, Davis was on hand to tuck home the loose ball.
Palace striker Christian Benteke forced a fine save from Fraser Forster a quarter of an hour in before on-loan Ruben Loftus- Cheek fired wide from 25 yards.
Ex- Celtic shot- stopper Forster spread himself to keep out Jason Puncheon’s six-yard shot four minutes into the second half in proved to be another fine reaction save.
And there was a f irst appearance since January for his former Parkhead team-mate Virgil van Dijk.
The Dutchman was thrown on three minutes from time having failed to push through the summer exit he craved.
Saints manager Mauricio Pellegrino said: “We have to accept that everybody can express themselves.
“Around the player there is a lot of interest. You know how it works by now – it is a big business behind them.
“In the past we were a game. Now we are a game but also a big business – and we have to accept that.
“Now we have to leave aside the situation and everything is normal.”