Sometimes it doesn’t matter how a goal comes, just so long as it does. This was one of those occasions.

Saints were desperate for a result, a home win, a goal.

A wonderful season was teetering on the brink of just fading away at the final bend.

Though the end of term report would still have been glowing after all the trials and tribulations of last summer, there would be no denying a sense of deflation following the incredible start, and the dreaming, that has taken place.

It would have been an even tougher pill to swallow with something vaguely similar having occurred last season.

But by finding that goal, that solitary goal seven minutes from time against Crystal Palace, it suddenly all feels a world away.

Saints now have a week-and-a-half to regroup before the final ten games of the season begin with a trip to Chelsea.

They remain in the hunt for Europe, even the Champions League.

Daily Echo:

Past and present: Ex-Saints boss Alan Pardew (right) and current manager Ronald Koeman (left)

If confidence and a mental barrier was the large hurdle in front of them, they have now cleared it, and just in the nick of time.

We always suspected Saints would have another wobble before the end of the campaign. If that was it, and last night’s result put it to bed, then there is much to look forward to.

If Saints can just regain that forward momentum again, just for ten more games, then the truly remarkable could still be a reality.

In sport, these things often hinge on one moment, one turning point.

Palace could have won this game, but ultimately Sadio Mane delivered exactly what Saints needed and it is they who breathe a sigh of relief, have a sense of pressure lifted, and the chance to look forward with optimism.

It seemed for a while last night as if that goal wasn’t going to come.

The recent themes of frustration continued throughout the first half.

Crystal Palace offered virtually no threat whatsoever going forward, their best moment a hopelessly mishit cross briefly spilled by Fraser Forster, and instead focussed their efforts on getting men behind the ball and making life difficult for Saints, who bossed possession.

For their part, Saints were trying to be adventurous and take some risks, even if they were still guilty of occasionally ponderous build up, and they did play well, but a goal wasn’t forthcoming.

They had obviously heeded the advice not to be shy to shoot, and there were plenty of efforts.

Few, though, were hit were any conviction, or it seemed a belief they might lead to a goal.

Daily Echo:

Saints midfielder Filip Djuricic on the ball

Eljero Elia fired well over the bar early on before Filip Djuricic did likewise with a half volley from just behind him after being inadvertently picked out by Victor Wanyama’s long-range drive.

Morgan Schneiderlin tried to be the driving force, hitting a shot from outside of the box and trying to break into it, but to no avail.

Mane summed things up with a brave run from deep and a shot, but screwed it well wide.

The best chance came five minutes before the break, as a corner fell to Elia, who fired in a fierce shot that Julian Speroni saved at his near post.

The ball rebounded to Graziano Pelle just inside the six-yard box but, under a lot of pressure, and with little time to react he couldn’t do any more than divert it wide.

Things threatened to go from frustrating to worse for Saints, as they rode their luck at the start of the second period.

Palace came out after the break on the front foot and if Jason Puncheon’s shot on the turn had been anywhere other than straight down the middle it would have been far harder for Forster to save.

The Saints stopper was in action again on 55 minutes as he beat out Bolasie’s shot. Jose Fonte was then caught on the ball on the edge of his own area before Bolasie fed it to Wilfried Zaha, whose shot across goal did beat Forster but struck the inside of the post and came back out.

It was a warning sign for Saints, but they were still struggling to step up their attacking threat beyond the odd moment of promise.

A slick move did see Pelle’s shot blocked by a sliding challenge, before a genuine chance as Dusan Tadic’s in-swinging corner was flicked on by Pelle, but Maya Yoshida’s flailing leg could only divert it wide from the middle of the six-yard box.

Saints survived a penalty shout as Fonte leant into Bolasie in the area, but then started to really squeeze on the pressure.

As well as the introduction of Tadic, Shane Long was introduced with Pelle taken off.

As the game rolled into the final ten minutes, Saints seemed to sense this was a critical moment in their season.

Tadic hit a free-kick narrowly over, before providing a left-wing cross from which Long volleyed a tough chance off target.

Daily Echo:

Sadio Mane wheels away after scoring the decisive goal

Finally, the moment everybody had been waiting for arrived on 83 minutes - a Saints goal.

Mane was involved at the start and the end.

He picked up Nathaniel Clyne’s right-wing cross and spun inside before squaring to James Ward-Prowse.

The midfielder jinked past a defender and hit a low shot from 20 yards down the middle of the goal that Speroni dived to his left to save.

However, he didn’t make a great job of it, pushing it back out in front of him and Mane’s pace saw him get to it quickest and he produced a classy finish, chipping the ball over the Palace man to send St Mary’s into raptures.

The whys and wherefores didn’t matter.

This was all about that moment, and the sense that it could be a defining one in this brilliant season.