Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton: Odsonne Edouard scores first-half winner as Eagles move into Premier League top half

Crystal Palace survived a second-half Southampton onslaught to earn a 1-0 victory via Odsonne Edouard's tap-tin and move into the top half of the Premier League.

Palace showed both their best and worst after controlling the first period before having Vicente Guaita to thank for keeping out Saints, who also saw Stuart Armstrong hit a post.

Edouard finally opened the scoring in the 38th minute, capitalising on winning possession in the Southampton half, just moments after seeing a strike ruled out for offside.

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Yet Southampton were transformed in the second half with Che Adams denied twice by Guaita as Palace held on to earn a third win in five and move up to 10th. Southampton stay 16th, two points above the relegation zone.

How Palace beat Saints

Crystal Palace dominated from the first minute, seeing Wilfried Zaha shoot narrowly wide from an angle as Edouard tried to poke the ball home in the middle.

Their pressure continued with Eberechi Eze pulling the strings in midfield, twice going close with low efforts. One was pushed behind by Gavin Bazunu and the other was a yard wide.

The hosts thought they had finally taken the lead when Edouard clinically finished, but Michael Olise was offside in the build-up when the striker had flicked the ball forward to him. It didn't matter, though, as soon Zaha robbed the ball from Lyanco in his own half, laying it off to Tyrick Mitchell on the overlap, and he squared for Edouard to convert.

Southampton could hardly play much worse and improved significantly in the second half. James Ward-Prowse played Adams in one-on-one with Guaita but the striker shot straight at the keeper.

Then Armstrong drove into the area and hammered a shot off the foot of a post, before Guaita was called into action again, saving low down from Adams who telegraphed his placed shot.

Vieira: We showed we still need to improve

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira: "I'm really pleased, we needed that win and I think overall it was quite challenging in the second half. We played well and I'm really happy with the win.

"It wasn't perfect, we showed there's still parts of the game we need to improve. In the second half we didn't start the half well enough to be more solid. We needed to show the other side of the game and we did it well in the second half.

"The frustration is when you create so many situations or chances and not scoring goals. We have to keep working and insisting on how important it is to score goals especially when we're in a really good period of the game. We need to improve our decision-making, have more people around the box. With the quality of the players we have, we can combine better."

On Guaita's performance: "You always expect the keeper to save you when you are in a difficult situation. He made some really important saves that allowed us to win the game."

On Cheick Doucoure injury: "It wasn't something major but we have to wait until Monday to see how long he will be."

Hasenhuttl: We had chances to score more than one

Southampton head coach Ralph Hasenhuttl: "It was two different halves like last week, but I think we had more chances than against Arsenal. The chances in the second were definitely there to score more than one goal. It's a frustrating thing.

"[In the first half] We played too slow with too many mistakes and the counter-pressing was very aggressive. When you don't play quick enough then you get under pressure. The second half we played much quicker and that was the difference."

On Che Adams' chances: "We can only support him and help him and make him better. He was in many situations very important for us to bring the ball down, he was working for his team. It's frustrating because he knows he had two good chances."

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Opta stats - Edouard finds his form

• Crystal Palace have won three consecutive home Premier League games (v Leeds, Wolves and Southampton) for the first time since April/May 2018.
• Southampton have lost on each of their last three top-flight visits to London (v Brentford, Tottenham and Crystal Palace), after losing just four of their previous 10 in the capital.
• Patrick Vieira is the fourth Crystal Palace manager to hit the 50-game milestone in the Premier League with the club, with the Frenchman picking up 64 points in that time (bettered only by Alan Pardew's 68) and losing just 16 of those games, fewer than any of his predecessors with 50+ games with the Eagles.
• Odsonne Edouard has netted three goals in his last six Premier League appearances, as many as he managed in his previous 29 in the competition.

What's next?

Live Super Sunday

Southampton host Newcastle on Super Sunday next weekend, kick-off at 2pm. The Saints welcome Sheffield Wednesday to St Marys in the Carabao Cup on November 9 before heading to Liverpool for their final match before the World Cup break three days later.

Crystal Palace go to West Ham next Sunday, before playing two away games before the World Cup suspends the season. Patrick Vieira's side play Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on November 9 before going to Nottingham Forest three days later in the league,

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