Candidates willing and able to accept the responsibility of scoring a crucial penalty for Crystal Palace were thin on the ground at Selhurst Park yesterday when the referee Paul Alcock pointed to the spot with 10 minutes remaining. The pressure was considerable, for Premiership destiny can be determined by such things.

Itzik Zohar, a substitute who had been on the field for a mere eight minutes, is by all accounts a mean striker of the ball, but he made a mess of Alcock's generosity, allowing Paul Jones to make the save down to his left and Southampton to survive in an open encounter.

They say the festive season is best spent within the comforts of your own home, but, presumably, Palace would have preferred their St Stephen's Day to be anywhere but at their own ground. On nine occasions they have attempted to claim their first Premiership home win and, thanks to Zohar, that search will now go on into 1998.

The Palace manager Steve Coppell was asked afterwards how his Israeli midfielder was feeling. "You can imagine that for yourself and he doesn't even get to celebrate Christmas," replied Coppell, who then explained why a player relatively new to the contest was put in that position. "He's a confident boy and I've always been told that if a player feels in the right mood, he should be given the chance."

It was not that long ago that Southampton were everybody's poor relation, but so wisely has Dave Jones invested his transfer fund that he could afford to rest his inspirational attacker Kevin Davies yesterday in favour of Egil Ostenstad. By comparison, Palace's resources are spread alarmingly thin.

Bruce Dyer, their normal penalty taker and the player who convinced Mr Alcock that Jason Dodd had illegally halted his burst into the penalty area, felt unable to take on the responsibility because of an ankle injury. And Neil Shipperley, having just scored his sixth goal in eight games to give Palace parity, was forced off with a combination of groin and thigh strains.

Coppell described Southampton's goal as a "Le Tissier strike from someone who is not Le Tissier." Dodd scuffed his cross, but when it arrived at Matthew Oakley the midfielder unleashed a stunning volley which sent the ball into the net off the underside of the bar.

As much as it rewarded periods of neat combination play from the visitors, it was hard on Palace, who had seen Dyer prod an effort against the post in the seventh minute and were further frustrated shortly after when Shipperley was inches away from converting his partner's pass.

Their best period built to a crescendo around the hour mark and finally achieved what they wanted when Dean Gordon met Simon Rodger's corner and Shipperley stabbed the ball home.