Crystal Palace boss: We didn’t deserve to beat Southampton

Patrick Vieira was left unhappy with the way his Crystal Palace side failed to compete in the first half of tonight’s 2-2 draw with Southampton.

And the Eagles manager got that point across during the interval.

Jordan Ayew’s first goal in 45 Premier League matches earned the Eagles a point. Wilfried Zaha had whipped them into an early lead but an excellent free-kick by James Ward-Prowse had levelled the contest before Armando Broja beat Jack Butland – starting due to Vicente Guaita dislocating a finger against Everton – with a long-distance shot.

“We needed to wake up because when we play at home it’s difficult to accept that a team are winning every single ball,” said Palace boss Vieira. “We did not accept that they wanted to win the game more than us and that is the feeling I had in the first half.

“It was important to send a message across and I had a really good response in the second half, much better on the competitive side. We needed to match that level and I don’t think we did in the first half, then we can talk about the way we play.

“When you’re looking at the game overall I’m pleased to take a point because they played some really good football. I don’t think we deserved more than that. They pressed us high and we didn’t manage to play through that pressure. At the end they had a couple of chances or situations.

“At the end of the first half we got punished because we stopped playing after scoring the first goal. We started taking too many touches and they started to build their confidence and scored their two goals.”

Replays seemed to show that Palace midfielder Will Hughes did not make contact with Broja as he hit the turf for Ward-Prowse’s free-kick. The Southampton captain curled an excellent ball over the wall with Butland making contact but not enough to prevent it going in.

“When it’s a corner, wide free-kick or central free-kick you know he is one of the strengths of the team,” said Vieira, not choosing to question referee Simon Hooper’s call. “His chance he took really well. Those situations, you have to congratulate the player.”

Vieira was asked if Butland could have done any better to keep out either of Southampton’s goals. He said: “The two strikes he conceded were really difficult for him. I like the presence that he has in the goal. It’s never easy when you don’t play often.

“He was part of the team and we tried to play our normal game but it was really difficult with the pressure they put on us.”