Southampton coach Ivan Juric has reserved special praises for Paul Onuachu for scoring his fourth Premier League goal of the season against Crystal Palace.
Onuachu opened the scoring for the Saints with a glancing header in the first half before Matheus Franca equalised for Crystal Palace to end the match in a 1-1 draw.
The draw denied Southampton their third win of the season, and also ended their run of six consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
The Super Eagles forward impressed in the encounter with his link-up play, troubling Crystal Palace defence with his physicality.
The former Genk forward impressive performance earned the praises of Southampton coach Ivan Juric.
He said: “Onuachu was really good, when he is full of energy he can be really good, he did good work”.
Juric also extended the praise to Onuachu’s teammates for their battling performance against Crystal Palace.
He said: “I’m very proud of the way we played, and very disappointed that we didn’t win because I think we did almost everything well.
“I had a good sensation on the bench that we don’t risk anything, we are compact. I’m sorry for the fans and guys that we didn’t win. I think we deserve it.
“Like I said before, I had a feeling that we are controlling the game, we don’t risk anything, they don’t create opportunities.
“They don’t create corners or anything dangerous and I had a really good feeling. It was the moment, they were good in the cross and other things.
“We lose a little bit of centimetres in this moment without Paul Onuachu and without Flynn Downes and maybe this is the reason.”
Onuachu has now scored four goals in his last nine Premier League matches after he failed to score in his first 22 matches in the competition.
Southampton occupy the bottom position on the Premier League table with 10 points, one away from the worst record in the division held by Derby County in the 2007-08 season.
The Saints are 19 points away from safety and they will be officially relegated with a defeat against Tottenham, and if Wolves beat Ipswich.
Onuachu will be hoping to continue his rich vein of form when Southampton take on Tottenham on Sunday.
