Strikers give Pardew a headache
ALAN PARDEW has walked into Crystal Palace and taken a relegation-threatened side who had one victory in 14 to win four on the trot. But not even knocking a Southampton team third in the Barclays Premier League out of the fourth round of the FA Cup will let him sleep easy this week. Loan signing Yaya Sanogo scored his first goal since a move from Arsenal and Marouane Chamakh netted twice as Palace twice came from behind to win. ‘Blimey, I’m going to have some sleepless nights deciding which players should play up front,’ Pardew admitted. ‘It’s a really lovely problem for us.’ Another forward, Dwight Gayle, hit a double in a 3-2 victory against relegation rivals Burnley the week before and he has four in three games under Pardew. Results under the new boss, who made the shock move from Newcastle at the start of January, leave them 13th, but only four points off the bottom three. And Pardew will not rest easy as they face home games against Everton, Newcastle and Arsenal and a visit to Leicester. He added: ‘The strikers I’ve got can score goals at Premier League level. I think I’ve seen enough to prove that.’ Another forward player flourishing under Pardew is Wilfried Zaha. He set up the second goal in the victory and had a hand in the third. The winger looks confident under a boss he feels trusts him after struggling under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal at Manchester United before his loan. Zaha explained: ‘I said to myself if I got minutes on the pitch I would get better and better. To find a manager that has got trust in me and gets me on the pitch is great.’
SUPER STAT: Southampton conceded more than two for only the second time this season.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): Forster 5; Clyne 5.5, Fonte 5, Gardos 5 (Targett 46min, 5.5), Bertrand 6.5; Cork 5.5 (Long 59, 6; Seager 73, 6), Ward-Prowse 6.5; S Davis 6, Tadic 6, Elia 6; Pelle 7. Subs not used: K Davis, Isgrove, Reed, McCarthy. Booked: Gardos, Targett, Clyne, Fonte. Scorers: Pelle 9, Dann (og) 16.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-2): Hennessey 6; Kelly 6, Delaney 6, Dann 5, Ward 6.5; Zaha 7, Ledley 6, McArthur 6, Campbell 6 (Murray 81); Chamakh 8 (Puncheon 64, 6), Sanogo 7.5 (Mariappa 78). Subs not used: Speroni, Hangeland, Bannan, Gayle. Booked: Chamakh. Scorers: Chamakh 11, 39, Sanogo 21. Man of the match: Marouane Chamakh.
Referee: Jonathan Moss 7.