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Ćaleta-Car laments first-half sloppiness

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Southampton defender Duje Ćaleta-Car expressed his frustrations at a slow first-half performance, which ultimately cost his side anything from the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Odsonne Édouard notched the only goal of the game after 38 minutes, converting from close range after his first ball in the back of the net was ruled out for offside moments earlier.

Saints came out for the second half much brighter and created chances of their own; Ché Adams with two guilt-edged opportunities to level the scores but was thwarted by Vicente Guaita.

For Ćaleta-Car, those first-half frustrations cost the team in the end: "It was a tough game; we knew here it’s always a tough game. Doesn't matter who they play.

"In the first half it wasn’t our best performance. We kept losing the ball and weren't really in the game. Second half we played our game and got our chances, but we didn’t take them.

"We’re sad and angry about this result but that’s football. We’ll keep going ahead of next Sunday.

"We have to play 95 minutes, 45 minutes is not enough. In the Premier League you need to play 95 minutes.

"I don’t know why it happens that in the first half we struggled then in the second half we start to play but we need to speak about it. We need to recover well and prepare for Sunday."