An early goal by Steven Davis won the game for a Saints side who are starting to find their shape and confidence.

After taking the lead so early it was a little disapointing that we didn't go on and make this a comprehensive win, but it was a case of doing the job and getting it done and Saints did so with a confidence that has been lacking in recent weeks indeed it could be said for well over a year.

In the preview article I wrote that I thought the manager would use the central two and my predicted side was almost spot on, the only real surprise was Shane Long whom I had commented deserved a starting spot but I didn't think he would be preferred to either Austin or Gabbiadini, but with Austin injured it was Long who led the line and did so with hs usual energy that gave Saints the ability to push forward.

The engine room of the side was Romeu and lemina in central midfield, Lemina was immense and undoubtably man of the match although it has to be said there were other contenders, Romeu gave the foundation to enable Lemina to shine, Wesley Hoedt was dominant at the back, not only defended well but defended with intelligence and used the ball, Shane Long full of running and Steven Davis did what Steven Davis does and capped a landmark appearance statistic by scoring.

But it was not a perfect performance, there were two lapses that saw Fraser Forster make two great stops from close range and mention should be made of the keeper who has had his detractors, but no with solid defenders in front of him can get back to his best.

It was a good solid performance though by Saints, the supporters cannot expect Mauricio Pellegrino to just click his fingers and make everything right straight away, but this was a big step forward, the only thing lacking was the delivery, too often we got into good positions but did not use the ball well, hopefully with confidence that will come.

The big talking point though was Virgil Van Dijk, I have left this to last as that is where it should be, his return should not overshadow the efforts of his team mates, I was surprised that he was used and I was surprised that the manager brought him on with 13 minutes left and changed the formation.

It was a brave move with the game still finely poised, but it worked, it stopped Palace getting up a head of steam in the closing stages as they threw the ball into the box, the problem for Saints if they did was a lack of height into the team.

Bringing on Van Dijk added that height, it was a mixed reaction from the travelling support for the Dutchman though and personally I thought it could have had an adverse affect on our team as we went into a crucial stage of the game with a slender lead.

But we need Van Dijk, those that seemed to think a Yoshida/Stephens combination was good enough, were shown the gulf in class that exists between either of them and Wesley Hoedt in this game, no one would deny that Van Dijk is one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

There are those who will say this win means nothing that everyone has beaten Palace and that everyone has kept a clean sheet etc, but that would be unfair, you can only beat what is in front of you and we did so, there was enough in this performance to show the critics in the Saints support that we have the squad to again finish in the top 10 or more.

This was a team performance, no a squad performance even the players who did not look at their best put in a shift and made what could have been a bad game average, this was a team that worked hard for each other and showed it has a lot more than some of its own fans would have you believe.

So a good solid start from the opening five games and a good base to build on.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 10:33 - Sep 17 Good win against poor opposition. Nice to see FF make a couple of saves. Lemina looks like a record signing for all the right reasons! Long should get a run in the side after that performance. I am also impressed with Hoedt. Just the one big negative and that is Nathan Redmond. This was a game where as Palace pressed forward in the second half they were ripe for the picking on the break. Long and Tadic were willing but where was Redmond? His only notable contribution was the mistake that led to Benteke's chance in the first half. Replace him with a quality attacking MF player (dare I say in the Mane/Lallana mould) and we would surely have got the second and more to make it safe. Ultimately it didn't matter in this game but it could have done. We can only replace him from within the squad so I suppose it is Boufal or perhaps Sims - I remember him breaking forward to good effect at Anfield last January. As for VVD - I agree, him and Hoedt with the rest of our defensive will make us pretty formidable in that area. Getting forward quickly and scoring enough will be the issue for me, though I suppose if the opposition always score 0 you don't need so many....

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skiptonsaint added 10:43 - Sep 17 Simply much better effort all round. Lemina might be that leader we have missed. With Hoedts ability to spread the ball out to the wings I would say Long for Redmond for me. Tadic looked better out on the touchline getting the ball. If we stretch the play like that with Gabs up front We might do better at St Mary's breaking teams down. However utd will come for 3 points (they have 2 now with city like they are) so will be a more open game I suspect.

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SaintPaulVW added 10:47 - Sep 17 Agree with a lot of this. Big improvement in everyone over the Watford game. Possibly pushed on a bit from the earlier games. Certainly looked organised and in control. Was very impressed with both the full backs yesterday. Big return to form for both of them. Bringing VVD on was a risky decision but right thing to do. Wise to do it away from home. The guy's a fantastic player and we need him back. Stuff what happened for the last 4 months, if we can get last season's VVD bacj he needs to be playing for us for however long. Certainly didn't look like he was just going through the motions when he was on as well. Was a bit surprised at starting with Long but it sort of made sense Mo Pe is a defensive coach so tightening it up and looking to have a quick player to counter makes sense. I think Redmond giving way to Boufal might be more sensible than swapping him in for Tadic. Both new signings looked excellent, credit to Les Reed for those. Yoshida gave a solid performance and I don't think VVD is going to have to work to get his place back so that is how it should be. This new side will take time to gel but a big step forward yesterday. I'm sure there will be bumps along the way though.

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LondonSaint added 10:53 - Sep 17 A goal and a great result (albeit against the weakest side in PL history after 5 games). Glad to see MP isn't afraid to change things up when needed - looking forward to seeing what we're really made next week!
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AmericanSaint added 10:53 - Sep 17 Fair report. Foster showed good poise after a few midfield lapses that allowed for the close range shots. Hoedt was very impressive, especially with his cross field passes that were spot on every time. That will make a difference when we are trying to change the play of attack. I was happy to see Lemina and Romeu working well together. I think Long did well and Palace were able to block several opportunities that should have been a second goal for us. Redmond did not have a good game and I agree, if we swing Long to the wing and have Gabs up front, this will be two threats as Shane will run onto the long ball and cross it well. Davis placed the shot well to score, but I think against better teams, he may need to be on the bench since we need to transition faster. he had several great passes and it a true professional, so it will be hard to not see him play. If we want to transition from mid to attack faster, then we will need more speed and his position is the only one I see rotating. Anyways, good win and we keep marching on.

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the_saint added 11:20 - Sep 17 Great display great half time with everybody jumping around to the super mario song only grunt from me is the idiots booing vvd how the hell does that help our side and the player if you don't want to clap him don't but never ever would I boo any of our players. Great tactical change when palace were pumping the ball forward in the closing stages so glad it didn't back fire.last word has to be for super mario wow we have found another ace him and Romeu we're outstanding

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OhBlox added 11:23 - Sep 17 Highlights for me were: The whole team looked really up for it and were willing to fight for everything. Individuals of note were: Davis, 200 games and a goal, enough said. Hoedt was solid, in particular his use of the ball was excellent with accurate long diagonal passes used to turn the play around. The midfield play from Lemina, in particular his ability to win back the ball with really effective tackles, as the game developed he started to show that he can get involved to help the attack too. The hold up play from Long was great, and of course his constant work rate, although he still doesn't look a significant goal threat on his own. Tadic had a good game and his attacking the byline, beating the defender and getting a cross in created the goal. Bertrand made saveral brilliant defensive contributions. Forster pulled off two excellent saves at critical times in the game. Redmond had a mixed game, some positive attacking play but nearly gave away a goal when he slipped and his goal attempts lacked power to sufficiently threaten their keeper. Overall positive signs, although we were helped by the fact that Palace and in particular Benteke was lacking confidence, but we are still lacking sufficient goal threat. On the subject of Long, listening to the pre-game chat on Solent it seems that Pellegrino feels that Gabbi and Long are too similar to play together and each would be better paired with Austin if we were to play 2 up front. I have to say that this performance showed to me that Long can hold up the ball as well as most and a partnership with Gabbi could be really effective.

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highfield49 added 11:33 - Sep 17 Redmond actually managed to stifle our counter attacking play by occupying space that Bertrand could have better utilised. I'd actually like to see Sam McQueen given an opportunity on the left side at some point in the future, particularly if the current pecking order fails to deliver. Anyhow, a decent performance which negated the "new manager effect" that could have seen Palace raise their game. Hoedt and Lemina already attracting the move to a bigger club comments from the media. For those who say "why don't we keep our top players?" how do you suggest we counteract this constant undermining of our scouting success? I suppose with pundits also suggesting that both Mane and Coutinho are wanted by bigger clubs it's just a question of where your club happens to be in the food chain. I have no answer to building and maintaining a winning team because, on a different level from the the clubs who have bottomless resources, we rely on the team spirit which was in evidence yesterday. Players like Davis, Romeu and Yoshi are absolutely crucial to the future of the club we love.

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Sanguin added 11:52 - Sep 17 A great result. The highlights don't show Saints' dominance in this game. But our scoring problems are still there and but for a couple of Forster saves we could have been left with a very different feeling. I don't think Redmond deserves the criticism he gets but he had a poor game. Romeu wasn't up to his usual standard either. Lemina was incredible and Tadic/Soares did really well down the right. I was really disappointed in the VVD boos. It wasn't just booing the player, it was booing every time other fans tried to sing his song. I think it's petty and those fans booing need perspective. Are they going to boo him until he leaves for Liverpool? If they're going to boo players for wanting to pay for bigger clubs then why not save some time and start booing Lemina or Hoedt now? Why not just boo the entire squad?

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truthfulsaint added 12:06 - Sep 17 Why not give Sims a run and leave Rdmond on the bench?
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DPeps added 13:20 - Sep 17 Good performance but difficult to read too much into it as CP were pretty awful. We'll know more our quality over the next few weeks when we play much better opposition Lemina looks great, although depressing to hear Phil Neville already saying that the big clubs will be after him soon... The criticism of Redmond is fair, but it's important to remember that he's young and has improved since joining us. I'd drop him and give him a run out in the U23s for a game or two

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redwight added 16:06 - Sep 17 With Hoedt and Lamina both putting in outstanding performances, the 'Reed must go' voices seem strangely quiet.
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skiptonsaint added 16:36 - Sep 17 Isn't Sims injured ? Haven't seen him in u23s
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Alehouse added 17:15 - Sep 17 Let's not get carried away by Forster's 'great saves'. One shot hit his leg and the other his body, he's a big man he has to get in the way sometimes.
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JimmyMeliaPhD added 18:17 - Sep 17 Most of the posts seem on the same page. Grounds for cautious optimism, mostly because of the play of the back four and 2 DMs. For the rest, everyone seems as bemused as the manager. It's not being negative to say that the choices and possible combinations of choices don't inspire confidence, and Pellegrino's mixing and matching hasn't really produced a feasible answer. That said, I agree with those who'd like to see less of Redmond. It's true that he's young and all that, but he's been a seemingly almost automatic pick this season and last and hasn't convinced anybody yet. And remember, this is now his fourth season in the premiership (plus 3 in the Championship)--if the idea is that he is still developing, I'd say the pace is too slow.

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SonicBoom added 18:32 - Sep 17 I wouldn't book the open bus top yet. We did what we needed to against an abject Palace side. Lemina and Romeu played very well but then they are decent players and were given twenty yards of space every time they had the ball. You would expect them to look good. I was pleased to see Gabbi on the bench. I think for whatever reason he's not been getting the ball and Long made runs that Gabbi doesn't. It seemed to give us more impetus going forward and we have some penetration. That said, I do feel that we shouldn't get too excited. We still only scored a solitary goal against a team that are in disarray. It was a good day overall, but I'm still yet to be convinced MP can find a way to find the goals needed.

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TeamCortese added 19:12 - Sep 17 Great performance from the lads! It was a matter of just getting the points on the board and we delivered. The jury's still for our attack though. Despite the efforts of Shane Long I still don't see too much of a goal threat--especially against better opposition. Whilst I greatly appreciate Davis's service and contribution to our rise up the EPL I believe he simply is not effective enough in the final third for the position he plays in. The truth of the matter is we would have lost that match without Lemina and Long. Lemina in particular really helped us dictate the rhythm of the game coupled with his technical ability and power in bettering the Palace midfield. I think he's a great addition to the team and will definitely help Romeu tremendously with the midfield battles. Long did well by acting as a constant nuisance both for the defence and midfield in chasing down lost causes--not to mention his hold-up play being fantastic in bringing others into the game. I still think Long on his own is not enough of a goal-threat for the opposition. I really believe his goal-record has been thwarted by the departures of Pelle and Mane. Mane, in particular, was very crucial for his game. Redmond who is effectively Mane's replacement simply hasn't provided the support needed and while I think he's had more stick than warranted this is inevitable due to the importance of the position he plays (similar to Davis). We should try Boufal in the middle with Long up top (possibly partnering Gabbiadini) and Sims playing out on the wing. How Josh Sims is being picked behind JWP is beyond me! He actually has potential and should be given the opportunity to show what he can do. I also think Hoedt looks a good addition as well. His long-range passing looks really good and adds another dimension from defence to attack. For me, Yoshida also brought back that calm assurance back to the backline. I would stick with those two until VVD gets his head together. I hate to say this but if all our defenders are playing to best of their abilities then VVD and Hoedt would have to be the centre-back pairing. Yoshi would still be a brilliant backup and would definitely be breathing down their necks if either them play poorly. What I find worrying is that given Lemina is a new recruit to the team, what would we have done without him? Perhaps Les and co realised they never truly replaced Wanyama and Morgan and wanted to bring back that solid core the partnership offered us a few years ago. I would argue Lemina is a blend of both, if not more technically gifted. Anyway, let's see how we get on against Man Utd. COYS!

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DockersRottingCorpse added 21:28 - Sep 17 Poor game 2 poor teams. Van Dijk is scum. Play 2 up front. End of.
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TimSaint added 22:33 - Sep 17 Great performance and win - we can only play what is put out against us !! Usually we would drop to their level - but this time we didn't. A lot of what I wanted to say has already been said, but I wanted to add that the only 2 real chances that Palace had, were as a result of a Redmond slip and a Romeu bad back pass. Glad that Davis was the goalscoring hero - perhaps he can push on now. Also glad that FF pulled off a few good saves when they were needed - he owed us those after his errors at Selhurst last season !!

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bstokesaint added 23:13 - Sep 17 It really felt like one of those games we just needed to win and ready ourselves for the next big one. I'm so glad Benteke fluffed his big moment and Fraser made a couple of very decent stops. I hope that inspires him. Other key points for me were, a good team display, Long took his unforeseen chance well, Lemina looks an outstanding talent, Hoedt looks like another promising central defensive signing and the manager's gamble to bring VVD on looks to have paid off (can understand why he did it, but agree with others it was risky late in a pivotal game). So, well satisfied with the 3 points. Next up our first 'big one' to see where we're really at!

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BoondockSaint added 01:06 - Sep 18 Happy with 3 points (and the Scouse dropped 2). Looks like the back line will be OK. Yes, only one goal against a team in disarray-but those are the ones we usually lose to-so hopefully this could be a turning point (fingers crossed).. but we still need goals.
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RogerToye added 10:12 - Sep 18 a draw next week is a result. looking at the two manchester's they are the ones to catch, we need goals and if redmond and boufal don't start we can be more direct IMO we will need gabbs, my guess is it will be close to Cup final side against ManU
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LordDZLucan added 11:21 - Sep 18 Ok we won but Palace looked really poor. We scored one but didn't look like scoring any more. If they had taken the 2 gilt edged chances that led to the Forster saves then we would have lost! I didn't see any improvement in the defensive performance and thought the left side looked distinctly shaky - Hoedt was not an upgrade on Stephens.
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