Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 2-2 draw with Southampton – Energetic start from Patrick Vieira’s side but they soon capitulated

A second-half strike from Jordan Ayew helped Crystal Palace secure a point in their 2-2 draw with Southampton.

The Eagles took the lead after two minutes through Wilfried Zaha, but two spectacular long-range strikes from James Ward-Prowse and Armando Broja gave the Saints the lead heading into half time.

Ayew, who ended a goal drought of 43 games, arrived at the back post in the 65th minute to turn home Odsonne Edouard’s deflected shot.

Patrick Vieira was forced to make one change from the side that beat Everton 3-1 on Sunday after Vicente Guaita dislocated his finger in the victory, allowing Jack Butland to make his first Premier League start of the season.

Here are Edmund Brack’s four takeaways from Selhurst Park:

EARLY ENERGETIC START FROM PALACE

It only took Wilfried Zaha two minutes to open the scoring at Selhurst Park, with the Eagles full of confidence after getting back to winning ways on the weekend.

Finding shades of confidence akin to their early season performances, Palace breezed their way past the Saints in the opening 10 minutes.

With the newly-formed trio in the middle of Conor Gallagher, Will Hughes and Cheikhou Kouyate swarming Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse, the opposition were suffocated into making mistakes.

The opener came from Hughes making a crunching tackle on Romeu and setting free Odsonne Edouard and Zaha on the counter-attack.

Zaha, who scored his fifth goal of the season, still had a tough task of beating Willy Caballero from that angle. But Zaha’s powerful shot wrong-footed the goalkeeper who had been training with AFC Wimbledon following his release from Chelsea in the summer.

The South Londoners should have put themselves 2-0 up, with James Tomkins and Edouard both missing golden chances to create vital breathing room.

PALACE CAPITULATED SOON AFTER

After Edouard had the chance to put the Eagles 2-0 up in the 22nd minute, which he shot wide despite being through one-on-one with Caballero, Southampton took control of the fixture – the momentum in the game swung viciously.

Forcing Palace deep into their own half and reacting quickest to every second ball, Southampton quickly turned Palace’s goal advantage into a 2-1 lead –  Ward-Prowse and Broja with two thunderous efforts.

After looking as if they could score at will, Palace shrunk and became timid in the middle – losing control of the game and allowing Southampton to dominate them.

It was a first half the encapsulated Palace’s season so far – a promising start that dwindled away.

The Eagles reasserted their authority on the game following half time.

EDOUARD LEADS THE LINE WELL

Despite missing that first-half chance that changed the course of the game, Edouard expertly led the forward line during the 90 minutes.

His mobility and clever runs create a more fluid front three. While Vieira has decided to place Edouard out on the left in past fixtures, he has elected to play the 23-year-old as the focal point in the two recent outings.

Although Edouard has only scored once since his debut brace against Spurs, his overall game is becoming a key component for Vieira.

The 23-year-old forward won five aerial battles on Wednesday and contributed to the Palace defence by winning four clearances.

BUTLAND MAKES FIRST PREMIER LEAGUE START

Jack Butland, making his first Premier League start of the season after Guaita dislocated his finger in the 3-1 win against Everton, could do nothing about the two goals he conceded on Wednesday evening.

He looked comfortable with the ball at his feet, and Vieira praised Butland’s “presence” following the draw.

While he had little to do during the 90 minutes, Butland (46) played more passes than Edouard (17), Kouyate (23) and Gallagher (44).

Guaita is still Vieira’s clear first choice heading into the remainder of the season.