Saints come up short in the capital

Odsonne Édouard poached the only goal of the game seven minutes before the interval, but that did not tell the full story of the contest.

Palace had Saints pinned back in the first period, but the opposite was true after the break, as the visitors piled on the pressure, but could find no way past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

The Spaniard made two crucial saves to deny Ché Adams, while Stuart Armstrong struck the post as Palace hung on for victory.

Ralph Hasenhüttl made one change to his side, restoring Adams to the starting line-up after the striker was only deemed fit enough for the bench against Arsenal last weekend, as Adam Armstrong dropped out.

There was a furious pace to the game right from the first whistle, as Romain Perraud dug out a cross from the byline that forced Vicente Guaita to tip the ball behind for a corner, from which Mohamed Elyounoussi’s flick on nearly reached Adams for a tap in at the far post.

Elyounoussi and Ibrahima Diallo were both guilty of giving the ball away in their own half, while Gavin Bazunu had a couple of nervy moments early on.

Saints’ unstable start continued when Mohamed Salisu was turned by Ghanaian compatriot Jeffrey Schlupp, whose cutback was hit first time by Luke Milivojević, but his shot struck the sturdy frame of Lyanco.

Palace, always backed by a boisterous home support, were growing in confidence, and Saints’ biggest scare to date arrived when a piece of magic from Eberechi Eze released Wilfried Zaha, whose low ball fizzed across goal and only inches away from the sliding Édouard.

It was Édouard leading the charge on Palace’s next attack, before the ball ran loose to Michael Olise in the box, who flung himself into Salisu before sending an optimistic glance in the direction of Michael Salisbury, but the referee rightly was not interested.

The only consolation for Saints was that they were still on level terms, but things might have got better for the visitors when Perraud’s ball released Adams, who darted into the channel and then jinked inside Joachim Andersen before unleashing a wicked curling shot that clipped the outside of the post.

It was a sign of Saints’ potential to trouble the hosts on the counter-attack, albeit the offside flag was subsequently raised, but it would prove a temporary period of respite for the visiting defence.

Eze twice hit low shots from 20 yards towards the bottom corner, the first of them forcing a diving save from Bazunu, before Édouard had the ball in the net, shooting between the legs of the goalkeeper, only to be flagged offside.

Bazunu had another uncomfortable moment from a right-wing corner, but recovered well to deny Andersen’s downward header from the resulting flag kick from the opposite side.

Meanwhile, Lyanco had already been booked for a tangle with Zaha, and was walking a tightrope against the Palace danger man as the home team continued to push for the opening goal.

It duly arrived when the Brazilian was robbed in his own half by the winger, who fed Tyrick Mitchell on the outside as Palace piled forward.

When the left-back squared the ball across goal, Édouard was not going to miss from six yards, leaving Bazunu no chance as the hosts deservedly turned their dominance into a half-time lead.

Hasenhüttl’s response was to make a change at the interval, introducing Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Diallo as a straight swap in midfield, as Lyanco was trusted to resume his battle with Zaha.

There was fresh impetus about Saints after the restart, who were claiming a penalty when Mohamed Elyounoussi’s shot deflected against the hand of Marc Guéhi, but the defender knew nothing about it.

The best chance to date arrived eight minutes into the second half when Adams traded passes with James Ward-Prowse, whose return ball split the Palace defence and left Saints’ top scorer one on one with Guaita.

But Adams’s first touch did not open up the angles for the striker, rather stalling his momentum, and his shot was blocked by the advancing keeper.

Guaita then had another save to make, low down at his near post, to deny Armstrong, as Saints’ threat continued to grow.

Suddenly Palace were hanging on, as Armstrong sent a similar effort crashing against the base of the upright, again from a tight angle on his left foot, before a Ward-Prowse corner was diverted narrowly wide of his own goal by Guéhi.

Saints’ second-half transformation was totally at odds with an out-of-sorts first period, but in Zaha Palace have a constant counter-attacking threat, and it would take an excellent piece of defending from Lyanco to force him on to his left foot and block the resulting shot.

Back came Saints, who were all over the hosts at this point. Another glaring chance fell the way of Adams after another one-two, this time with Joe Aribo, who perfectly delayed the pass before feeding it into his path, but again Adams’s shot, this time on his left foot, was too close to Guaita, who was grateful to make another vital save.

Next to try his luck was Ward-Prowse with a typically clean strike from 25 yards that was only fractionally wide of Guaita’s right-hand post with the keeper stranded.

With 18 minutes to go, Hasenhüttl threw on Moussa Djenepo and Samuel Edozie to increase Saints’ threat from the wings.

A couple of trademark bursts from Edozie gave Saints hope, as the teenager fired one ball across goal, but again Guaita intervened, as Hasenhüttl’s men were unable to find the equaliser their second-half revival merited.