What would Rubén Sellés give for a similar reaction to the one Roy Hodgson has instigated at Crystal Palace? A third successive victory for the first time since the former England manager’s previous stint as manager courtesy of a virtuoso performance from Eberechi Eze virtually assured their Premier League status for another season and heaped more pressure on Southampton.
Cut adrift at the bottom and without a win in six matches, even Sellés – the 39-year-old who followed in Hodgson’s footsteps during a spell as an assistant with Danish side FC Copenhagen before moving to St Mary’s in the summer – must acknowledge that his side look doomed. Despite restricting Palace to zero shots on target in a first half that they dominated, it was Southampton’s familiar failings in front of goal that cost them once again as Eze was in the right place at the right time to give Palace the lead early in the second half before a dazzling solo effort from the England hopeful sealed the points.
