Aribo starts as Southampton stumbles to defeat at Saint Mary’s

Southampton sinks further in relegation battle

Aribo starts as Southampton stumbles to defeat at Saint Mary’s

Stephen Oladehinde 16:54 - 15.04.2023

Joe Aribo was in action as Southampton fell to Crystal Palace 2-0 at Saint Mary's Stadium, further aggravating their relegation struggle.

Crystal Palace secured a vital win at Saint Mary’s with two goals from Eberechi Eze mounting more pressure on relegation-threatened Southampton. As it stands the Eagles are totally out of the relegation battle.

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As it happened

Southampton manager Ruben Selles started with a strong lineup with Nigerian midfielder Joe Aribo partnering Carlos Alcaraz in attack. Crystal Palace on the other hand were unchanged as they fielded the same players that trashed Leeds United last week.

The game started with Crystal Palace taking charge of the game and creating chances in the first 10 minutes.  

The game opened up a bit in the 15th minute when Michael Olise was played clean through on goal and beat Gavin Bazunu but the flag was raised for an offside which was the correct decision by the official.

The first half ended in a goalless draw as both teams went to the dressing room to re-strategize for the second half.

Crystal Palace continued their pressure on the home side as they try to find the opening goal. Their reward paid off in the 54th minute with their first shot on target of the game. 

Eberechi Eze started the move, passing the ball to Jordan Ayew on the far side. He chests it down which beats Ainsley Maitland-Niles and forces a save from Gavin Bazunu. The rebound then falls straight to Eze, who side-foots it over the line from close yard.

The Eagles added the second with a routine strike from a rebound. The midfielder spun away from his opponent and thumped it into the bottom left corner to put Palace 2-0 up at St Mary's and add more misery to their already underwhelming campaign.

The final whistle was blown by the official as Crystal Palace moved further away from the relegation battle leaving Southampton to wallow in the relegation mud.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze was denied a goal by VAR as Villarreal lost at home to relegation strugglers Real Valladolid.