Crystal Palace vs Southampton. The FA Cup Third Round.
Selhurst ParkAttendance20,320.
Adam Armstrong scores second-half winner for Southampton at Selhurst Park in the FA Cup third round after mistake from Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita; James Ward-Prowse equalised for Southampton shortly before half-time after Odsonne Edouard had given Palace the lead
Saturday 7 January 2023 15:07, UK
Adam Armstrong pounced on an error from Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita to complete Southampton's comeback in a 2-1 FA Cup third-round win at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace dominated the opening stages and deservedly took a 14th-minute lead through Odsonne Edouard, but Southampton rode out more pressure from the home side before James Ward-Prowse's attempted cross from a free-kick was allowed to bounce into the corner by Guaita.
The Palace 'keeper would have been disappointed at his failure to keep out Southampton's first, but worse was to come in the 68th minute as his hesitance allowed Armstrong to block a clearance and tap the ball into an empty net.
The win provides a much-needed boost for Southampton boss Nathan Jones, who has come under pressure after losing all four of his Premier League games since taking charge in November, but has now won a match in both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
The hosts were hoping to kick-start another run to Wembley after losing to Chelsea in the semi-finals last season and began well as Will Hughes, making his first start of the season, tried to get Palace going when he squared a pass to Wilfried Zaha inside the area.
He was stopped by a good sliding tackle from Lyanco, who did well to halt the Eagles talisman again soon after as he drove down the left channel before the Ivory Coast international sent a shot clear of the crossbar.
Palace were up 1-0 after 14 minutes when Zaha flicked a pass to the onrushing Edouard, who beat Duje Caleta-Car to the ball and finished with a low strike beneath Gavin Bazunu into the bottom left.
The hosts came within inches of doubling their lead when Michael Olise cut back to Jordan Ayew, whose toed effort from six yards out somehow pinged off the crossbar.
It proved costly when Saints levelled in the 37th minute after some poor defending from the hosts. Ward-Prowse sent what looked to be an innocuous free-kick into the area but Joel Ward mistimed his effort to head clear.
The ball took a bounce inside the box before evading Guaita, who scrambled in the right direction but could not stop it from going past the right post and in.
Zaha attempted to break the deadlock early in the second half, aggressively driving into the area only to see his shot blocked by Lyanco at the edge of the six-yard box.
The ball pinged around the area before a deflection landed at the feet of Olise, who drilled an effort straight at Bazunu, then sent a free-kick straight at the Saints 'keeper who leapt up to make the straightforward stop.
Southampton took the lead for the first time after 68 minutes.
Guaita had just done well to block Samuel Edozie then stop Armstrong's header, but he soon made a mistake as he attempted to make a routine clearance from outside the area when Armstrong rushed in, stole the ball from the Spaniard and had plenty of time to compose his low strike into the empty net.
As the rain began to drive down in sheets, Zaha twirled around Kyle Walker-Peters before he was brought down near the goal line. But Palace were unable to capitalise on the two set-pieces which followed, nor five minutes of added time as any chance of an equaliser slipped away.
