Southampton Denied Victory by Late Equalizer From Matheus Franca
Matheus Franca's goal in stoppage time for Crystal Palace denied Southampton just one of their third Premier League victory for the season, which placed them on the verge of an undesirable record.
Franca's late header, which earned the Eagles a 1-1 draw, implies that Saints will face relegation over the weekend if they fail to win against Tottenham. Wolves beat Ipswich.
Should relegation be confirmed on Sunday, Southampton would become the first side to face demotion from the Premier League with seven fixtures remaining.
The 2007-08 Derby team, often considered the benchmark for underperforming Premier League sides, also had six matches remaining at this stage. Similarly, Huddersfield in 2019 and Sheffield United from four seasons prior were in the same position with six fixtures still to play.
At the very least, Saints have progressed to achieve double-digit figures for the season, yet they remain just one point short of matching Derby's lowest ever points total with 11.
Palace came to St Mary’s riding high on a five-game winning run and encouraged by their advancement to the FA Cup semi-finals over the weekend. This impressive form has led tomanager Oliver Glasner beinglinkedwithRBLeipzigintheBundesliga.
Seeking their seventh consecutive victory, they came close to scoring within the first 90 seconds when Jean-Phillipe Mateta, whose ear was still tightly bandaged due to the severe injury he sustained against Millwall last month, unleashed a powerful shot from 25 yards out that struck the bottom side of the crossbar.
The palace team hadn't let in a goal during their away matches since Christmas, which made their conceding early on quite surprising. Saint’s managed to take the lead just before the 20-minute mark.
Mateus Fernandes played a series of passes with Flynn Downes on the right flank before delivering a cross for towering striker Paul Onuachu to powerfully head home.
“We’re staying up,” shouted the supporters at the home end. The reply from the Crystal Palace section echoed back, “Say hello to Millwall.”
Mateta seemed poised to level the score in the 35th minute as he spun inside the penalty box and fired a powerful drive towards the goal, only for it to be thwarted. Aaron Ramsdale managed to get down and make a excellent one-handed save.
Following the interruption, Ismaila Sarr charged ahead and set up the play. Eberechi Eze , however, the England striker’s diagonal shot struck the netting at the side of the goal.
After Eze went down following being tackled by Downes, he took a free-kick which led to Eddie Nketiah having his attempt saved by Ramsdale. The ball then bounced off Nketiah and drifted wide.
A groan rose from the crowd as the fourth official indicated eight additional minutes of stoppage time, and shortly after, Palace managed to level the score.
You could nearly imagine the roar from Derby as Jefferson Lerma’s cross was powered into the net by a header from Franca, sneaking past Ramsdale and his upright.
The palace nearly scored a winning goal, which would have been particularly harsh for saints. However, Nketiah’s quick shot went just above the crossbar.
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