Maya Yoshida and James Ward-Prowse spared Shane Long’s blushes as Southampton hit two goals in as many minutes to sink Crystal Palace 3-1 at St Mary’s.
Republic of Ireland striker Long spurned a trio of gilt-edged chances and Saints were almost made to pay for that wastefulness, until Yoshida came to the rescue.
The Japan defender’s tap-in seven minutes from time turned this Premier League match, after Christian Benteke and Nathan Redmond had traded first-half goals.
Saints laboured without injured arch finisher Manolo Gabbiadini, with Long unable to match the Italian’s predatory instincts.
Palace so nearly took their unbeaten run to five matches, but somehow Saints salvaged victory - with Yoshida claiming his first league goal since February 2016.
Watch the above video to see highlights from St Mary’s…
Yoshida netted in the 84th minute to put Saints ahead after a dominant display had seen them create a plethora of opportunities, something which came as a relief after some stick from his teammates.
“Cuco told me before the game that I only ever score for Japan and that I don’t score in the Premier League so I wanted to prove him wrong,” Yoshida joked.
“I’m happy that hopefully he will never be able to talk with me like this again!”
The success moved Saints up to 9th place in the table, with West Bromwich Albion next up.
And Yoshida highlighted the importance of building some momentum after a victory of significance at home.
“We’re delighted because we haven’t won for a long time at St Mary’s. I understand many people were waiting for that victory,” Yoshida reflected.
“We fight today and we created many chances. This win is very important for us and the most important thing now is that we keep winning.”
“We need to be more clinical but we scored three goals today which is important, but we have to keep doing it now.
“Against West Brom this weekend, hopefully we can get another three points.”
MAYA Yoshida struck the winning goal for Saints against Crystal Palace and then urged his team-mates to keep the goals flowing as they plot a Premier League ascent.
The Japanese international scored his first league goal of the season to give Saints the lead on 84 minutes, before James Ward-Prowse added a third moments later in the 3-1 win at St Mary’s.
“We have to be more clinical in front of goal,” he said. “But we got three goals and hopefully there’s more goals to come at West Brom on Saturday.
“We will also be targeting another clean sheet too.”
The victory lifted Saints to 9th in the top-flight and to seven points off Saturday’s opponents West Brom with two games in hand.
It was Saints’ first win at St Mary’s since January and Yoshida admitted that, after a frustrating period on home turf, his goal brought relief and delight in equal measure.
“Because last month we didn’t play at home and we were, including the supporters, missing the winning feeling,” he said.
“We can celebrate together now and hopefully against West Brom.”
He added: “The most important thing is we got three points because we have been waiting for this win for a long time – especially after not playing at St Mary’s for so long either.
“The fans expected a lot from us, so we could answer that today and we’re really happy.
“The most important thing now is to win against West Brom because we can catch up with them really quickly.
“The table is really close, so it’s important to keep winning.”
The central defender is eager to build momentum.
He said: “We have to keep winning because the table is really tight. If we lose twice, we could drop really quickly.
“If we win twice, we can look more above.”
After claiming the triumph, the 28-year-old was in a forgiving mood after referee Roger East waved away two big penalty shouts for Saints in the first-half.
With Claude Puel’s men trailing 1-0 after Christian Benteke’s opener, Jeff Schlupp appeared to handle in the box, before Shane Long was barged over by Luka Milivojevic.
“In my opinion we should have got two penalties, but we’ve won 3-1 so it’s okay,” said Yoshida.
“I don’t like to speak about the referee too much because sometimes we get lucky and sometimes unlucky because the referee is human as well.
“Sometimes they make mistakes and sometimes they work very well.”
David Moyes relying on former Man Utd and Everton players at Sunderland
David Moyes has nine of his former Manchester United and Everton players at Sunderland but which Premier League club does your team’s footballers mainly come from?
Sunderland host Moyes’ former club Manchester United live on Sky Sports this Sunday, with on loan Adnan Januzaj and permanent signings Paddy McNair and Donald Love in their squad. John O’Shea will also be involved, although he left Old Trafford prior to Moyes’ brief reign.
Moyes, who managed Everton between 2002 and 2013, also has six of his Goodison Park group at the Stadium of Light, with another former United player Darron Gibson alongside Victor Anichebe, Steven Pienaar, Joleon Lescott, Jack Rodwell and Bryan Oviedo.
Excluding Rodwell, Moyes has signed all the former Evertonians since replacing Sam Allardyce at the Stadium of Light in July last year.
Another Sky Live game this weekend, Tottenham v Watford, will see the Hornets’ trio of Younes Kaboul, Heurelho Gomes and Etienne Capoue take on their former side, while Liverpool have four ex-Southampton players in Sadio Mane, Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana in their ranks.
Meanwhile, Stoke players Peter Crouch, Joe Allen, Glen Johnson and Charlie Adam all had previous stints at Anfield.
The Potters also have three former Manchester City players in Stephen Ireland, Shay Given and Glenn Whelan as well as having Wilfried Bony on loan from the Etihad - despite making limited appearances since his move.
Swansea also have a large former Tottenham cohort, including Gylfi Sigurdsson, Tom Carroll, Wayne Routledge and Kyle Naughton.
Click or tap the flip cards below to reveal which rival club your squad has the most representatives from…
Nathan Redmond’s first-half strike cancelled out Christian Benteke’s opener, before Maya Yoshida and James Ward-Prowse completed the 3-1 scoreline.
“We kept going with a good attitude and spirit,” started Puel.
“Especially in response to the difficult scenario of going behind – it was important for us to finish the game with a high intensity.
“After the game against Bournemouth we have had a good and you could see that today in the quality and intensity in our game.”
Despite going behind on the half-hour mark, Saints had the better of the opening chances, and came close through Shane Long and Oriol Romeu.
And Puel felt his side created enough chances to take a lead into the break.
“It was difficult to accept,” he continued.
“We were creating a lot of opportunities and showing quality on the pitch without a good clinical edge.
“But it was important to win this game - I am happy with the whole squad because they have been working fantastically in training and took that onto the pitch.”
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