Saints fifth after crushing FA Cup finalists Palace 4-1

Britain Soccer Football - Southampton v Crystal Palace - Barclays Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 15/5/16 Steven Davis celebrates with Graziano Pelle after scoring the fourth goal for Southampton Action Images via Reuters / Paul Childs Livepic

REUTERS - Southampton qualified for the Europa League on Sunday with a 4-1 Premier League rout of Crystal Palace, who had one eye on next weekend's FA Cup final at Wembley.

Sadio Mane gave Saints a first-half lead following a mistake by veteran keeper Julian Speroni, one of five changes to the Palace side that beat Stoke City last weekend, and Graziano Pelle added the second just past the hour.

Palace got back into the game quickly when Jason Puncheon scored with a blistering shot three minutes later but a 75th-minute Ryan Bertrand penalty and a late strike from Steve Davis secured the victory.

Southampton are assured of at least a spot in the Europa League's qualifying round, but will have to wait for Manchester United to play Bournemouth in Sunday's abandoned match to know if they can keep fifth place, which gives direct qualification to the group phase.

(Reporting by Rex Gowar; Editing by Toby Davis)