Crystal Palace have recorded a 3-0 victory over Southampton to give Alan Pardew a stay of execution at Selhurst Park.
Pardew was facing the sack at the London club with the Eagles losing six successive games in the Premier League, but he will now look ahead to the Christmas period after a comfortable win over the Saints.
The opening quarter featured little goalmouth action with Palace playing with the lack of belief which comes with failing to win in seven league matches, but they improved as the game moved towards the half-hour mark with Christian Benteke heading wide from a Wilfried Zaha cross.
Their first goal came through the work-rate of Benteke, who managed to close down Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster before tapping the ball into an empty net.
Two minutes later, the home side had a second through James Tomkins, who was perfectly placed inside the six-yard box to finish from Joe Ledley's flick-on from a corner.
Southampton were offering nothing in the final third and soon after the restart, Palace pushed for a third with Joel Ward forcing a stop out of Forster, although the England international was not troubled on this occasion.
The visitors did improve with youngster Josh Sims firing over after a counter-attack, but that was as good as it got for Claude Puel's men and Palace ended the game with a third goal.
Jason Puncheon chased down a long ball and after gaining possession, he was able to tee up Benteke to net his second goal on his 26th birthday.
That strike ended the game as a contest and Palace's supporters - as well as Pardew - were able to celebrate moving up to 14th place in the table.
Darren Plant
