Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton: Eze grabs winner for home side

Eberechi Eze scored a second-half winner as Crystal Palace came from behind to round out the year with a crucial 2-1 victory over struggling Southampton at Selhurst Park.

The visitors started brightly and took a shock early lead through Tyler Dibling after an excellent run from Kyle Walker-Peters.

But Palace rallied well and got back on level terms before half-time with a Trevoh Chalobah header from a corner, despite Southampton’s complaints that goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was impeded.

The home side took the lead through Eze as he struck a powerful effort past Ramsdale from just outside the penalty area and the hosts held on for all three points.

Ending 2024 with three points #CPFC // #CRYSOU

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 29, 2024

A win for Palace sees them move above Everton into 15th position, while Southampton remain bottom with just one win and six points to show from the first half of the season.

Data Debrief: Saints’ historically poor away form reaches new lows

Oliver Glasner’s men had made a poor start to the league this season, with a 1-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest in October leaving them in the relegation zone. Yet since then, Palace have lost just two of their next 11 matches, winning four of them, which has seen them move away from danger and towards mid-table.

Southampton are yet to win away from home this season and this latest loss means they have now gone 17 consecutive away top-flight games without a victory for just the second time in their entire history, after a 19-game winless run achieved between March 1985 and February 1986.

They also have just six points from their first 19 Premier League matches – a points haul which is only better than one team in history, Sheffield United in 2020-21 who managed just five points, and equalled by the Sunderland side of 2005-06. Worryingly for the Saints, both of these sides finished bottom in each respective season.