Wilfried Zaha's Early Goal- A Game Changer

Crystal Palace has flouted an extensive injury list to beat Southampton 1-0 - the first time they have ever won their opening match of the Premier League - credit goes to Wilfried Zaha's early goal. Zaha directed home a cocooned volley in the 13th minute. This happened after he was being picked out from Andros Townsend at a vacant Selhurst Park. Palace fielded a heavily patched-up defense because of injuries to center backs Gary Cahill, James Tomkins, and Mamadou Sakho and full-backs Nathan Ferguson and Patrick van Aanholt. Offseason signings Michy Batshuayi and Eberechi Eze weren't adjudged ready to start, either, by manager Roy Hodgson. Still, Palace managed to thwart Southampton, which has been widely expected to go well this season after the teams' strong end to the last campaign backing the restart of league play.