Crystal Palace did an effective job of defeating Southampton, the team collecting its first clean sheet since the start of the season and three much-needed points, too. Here's Naveed Khan with five things we learned from the performance and outcome. 

1. Midfield base and discipline key

There is little doubt that Alan Pardew has technically gifted central midfielders at his disposal. So far this season, through a transition to be more attacking, we have yet to see them play as a base for attacks to build from as they did in the Pulis team. Saturday was the first time where the central midfield pair played as a base to support defence as well as attack, provided natural screening to the back four while allowing Wilfried Zaha and Jason Puncheon more freedom to attack (noticeable that neither neglected their defensive duties either). We finally saw the balance that was so desperately needed.

2. Delaney embodies the club

Damien Delaney’s disinterest in the comeback during the Swansea match was highlighted last week; however, his real value to the side was demonstrated in the 3-0 win. As Pardew pointed out, he is not the most gifted defender but then Palace have a history of the players who are not the most gifted with ability actually being the ones who carry us to our goals. Delaney was not simply restored into the centre-back position to partner Scott Dann, his leadership, communication and organisation were clear from that start. He may make more mistakes than a Premier League defender should but being in the side with a remit to organise means the team makes fewer.

3. Puncheon reInforces his importance

While much of the media and sections of the fanbase continue to undervalue the critical role he plays in Palace’s run in the top-flight, Saturday was yet further demonstration of how Puncheon-centric the team needs to be set up to be. Against Southampton, he covered the most ground of any Palace player while also having the most touches of the ball and sprints. His ball retention was again superb and he laid on Christian Benteke’s second goal excellently. The slightly reduced pace of our play combined with the work of James McArthur and Joe Ledley behind him allowed Puncheon to not only be more expressive but the likes to Zaha and Benteke to take advantage of this expression.

4. Townsend still not clicking

Aside from the Stoke game, it is fair to say that Andros Townsend has been underwhelming thus far. There are mitigating circumstances; he arrived during the team’s awful 2016 form and while the manager was looking to change style. He was not to blame for that but as we approach the mid-way point of the season, a greater level of contribution is needed from him. While he falls into the attacking aspect of the style of play Pardew wanted to impose, it’s the more traditional Palace side of the game he needs to master – helping the full-back, general endeavour and releasing the ball after beating a player – to balance the natural inconsistency of a winger. The key is not get lost as he is while the team looks to find its identity.

5. The ‘transition’ trigger must be resisted

While the win lifted a huge cloud over the fans as well as players and lead to the manager and chairman exchanging a thumbs-up, it is vital that the club builds momentum from this win. The welcome three points do not render the need for improvement at full-back and competition up-front and for the wingers redundant. Nor should it lead to the transition button being pressed again; Pardew needs to build from the platform the players laid on Saturday and add to the squad accordingly.