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Crystal Palace 0-1 Southampton

Maamun Hajmahmoud reports from Selhurst Park

ROY HODGSON’S return to the club of his childhood ended miserably as Southampton deservedly ran out as one-nil winners.

The former England manager made the point in his programme notes that he’s “always believed in the club’s potential and the ability within the squad to turn things around.”

However, Steven Davis’s six-yard finish after five minutes was not the start he would have envisaged.

“Well today, I thought it was a disappointing performance, nervous, the anxiety was there for all to see in the first half in particular, not made easy of course by conceding the early goal,” said Hodgson.

Despite the early setback, Palace did try to force the initiative as Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s return to the squad was nearly justified with a goal.

The Chelsea loanee had two attempts which troubled Fraser Forster’s goal within minutes and was the driving force of the Eagles’ midfield until he was substituted, much to the disappointment of the home faithful.

“Loftus-Cheek came back from a long injury, the only one I was prepared to take a chance on was Ruben. I was pleased I did as he played well. But he cramped up and I was informed by the people on the field that he had to come off and he couldn’t run any more.”

Meanwhile Mario Lemina’s performance showed why Southampton paid £18 million to Juventus for the Gabon international’s services.

His distribution and tidiness on the ball — mixed with his combativeness and hunger — proved too much for the hosts to handle as the visitors effectively won the game in midfield.

Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino was pleased with his performance but made it clear that all his players deserved praise.

“Mario is the profile of player we didn’t have in the squad. I think he can help us to be stronger in the middle of the pitch. But, I’m not just happy about him, I’m happy with everybody, also Virgil came back, he played another 10 minutes, we need everybody to try and make Southampton a little bit better.”

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