Daily Echo:

Saints picked up their first away win of the season as Virgil van Dijk made his much anticipated comeback.

Steven Davis scored the only goal of the game as Saints defeated rock bottom Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in Roy Hodgson’s first match in charge of the Eagles.

While the match itself will not live too long in the memory, it was an important three points for Saints as it marked their second win of the campaign thus far and their first on the road.

It also heralded an important moment as van Dijk was reintroduced for the final few minutes having been ruled out since January, firstly by injury and then his desire to leave the club, which culminated in a transfer request.

Palace were in an upbeat mood at the start after a rousing reception for new manager Roy Hodgson and got forward immediately, but Andros Townsend hooked a shot well off target.

Up the other end Steven Davis got a fairly weak effort on target but it was a simple save for Wayne Hennessey.

However, there was no denying the Northern Ireland skipper on six minutes as he gave Saints the lead.

Davis started the move by slipping the ball out to Dusan Tadic on the right. He skipped outside Jeffrey Schlupp and put in a low cross that Hennessey dived to palm out, but only as far as Davis whose first time sidefooted finish was directed into the bottom corner.

Palace were unravelling defensively and Shane Long had a presentable chance from a diagonal cross by Tadic from the right. He attempted to loop a header back over Hennessey but it drifted over.

Christian Benteke should have levelled the scores on 16 minutes as he was presented with the chance to shoot first time on the turn inside the six yard box after Nathan Redmond had slipped and Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s cross had taken a slight deflection.

The big striker’s effort wasn’t particularly well struck and at a perfect height and direction for Fraser Forster who stood big to block from close range.

Redmond struck an effort from 25 yards but it was straight at Hennessey as Saints continued to pressurise a creaky Palace.

Loftus-Cheek served Saints a reminder their lead was not yet a secure one as he drove forward and unleashed a powerful low drive that zipped just wide.

Moments later he battled his way into the area and was only denied by a last ditch challenge from Ryan Bertrand.

Yohan Cabaye became the first player to pick up a yellow card for a late challenge on Mario Lemina.

Saints threatened to finish the first half with another goal to give themselves a cushion to show for their dominance.

However, Tadic’s shot in the area was bravely blocked, while Hennessey was able to get down to his right to save from Redmond’s low effort from just outside the box.

Townsend had the final shot of the half but slashed a half volley well wide of the target.

At the break Saints had the lead and were comfortably the better team but knew they would ideally get themselves another goal to start to feel more secure.

Saints rode their luck at the beginning of the second half as Palace created two great chances in the space of a minute.

Firstly, nobody in a Palace shirt was able to get a decisive touch on Loftus-Cheek’s drilled low ball across the six yard box.

Then, just moments later, Schlupp found Jason Puncheon with a low ball from the left but the former Saints man put his shot from close range straight at the diving Forster when virtually anywhere else would have been a goal.

Scott Dann went in the book after hauling down Davis as Saints tried to wrestle back control of the game as the conditions at Selhurst Park changed from sunshine to driving rain.

James McArthur quickly followed after a couple of fouls in quick succession.

The game was starting to drift a little and Hodgson tried to do something about it with Luka Milivojevic replacing McArthur on 69 minutes.

Shane Long was shown a yellow card for dissent as Saints got increasingly frustrated with referee Robert Madley.

However, the most important thing for them was to keep their lead intact.

Joel Ward got a head on a deep free kick but it was simple for Forster.

There were boos of disapproval ringing around Selhurst Park as Palace took off Loftus-Cheek, who had been their brightest attacking threat in the game, replacing him with Bakary Sako.

Opportunities had been few and far between for Saints in the second period but they had a great chance to kill off the game on 79 minutes.

Davis whipped in an inswinging corner that found Oriol Romeu totally unmarked eight yards out but he headed over the bar.

Saints made their first change to try and shore things up for the final five minutes with James Ward-Prowse coming on for Redmond.

They knew what was going to be coming as Palace prepared to lump even more long balls up to Christian Benteke.

Saints had dealt with it well all afternoon, with Lemina also providing an excellent shield in front of the back four.

To be fair, Palace hadn’t looked much like scoring for the majority of the game but Pellegrino knew that without the cushion of a second goal his team would have to dig in.

Daily Echo:

To help them cope with the potential aerial bombardment he brought on Virgil van Dijk for his first appearance since January 22 and also since handing in a transfer request. He replaced Tadic as Saints went with five at the back for the closing stages.

The Saints fans responded by singing his name and applauding him on to the pitch.

Cedric Soares almost wrapped things up as he cut inside from the right and hit a left footed shot that Hennessey saved with his legs at the near post.

Manolo Gabbiadini replaced Long as Saints looked to run down the five minutes of added time, which they duly did without too many dramas to secure the three points.