It was delight for Wolves after Pablo Sarabia’s early goal, followed by Matheus Cunha’s stunner lifted them to their first Premier League victory of the season.
The three points mean they ascend up to 18th in the table with six points, and surpass Southampton who are left at the foot of the standings.
Sarabia opened the scoring just two minutes in after Cunha smartly played a pass into the Spaniard’s path, before calmly taking it round Aaron Ramsdale to slot home into an empty net.
The Saints regained control in the match and thought they had an equaliser in the 14th minute, only for VAR to intervene and disallow the goal.
Cunha put to bed the chances of any comeback from the visitors just six minutes after the break, the Brazilian drove to the edge of the penalty area and fired past Ramsdale with a superb curling effort.
Wolves ended their 10-game winless run in the league this season, to potentially save Gary O’Neil from losing his job after it was rumoured a loss at home to their fellow relegation candidates could warrant O’Neil the sack.
In a high stakes game, many players stepped up and proved their worth but equivalent to what rating?
-
Player Ratings
Jose Sa - 6
The Portuguese shot stopper had little to do after the visitors recorded no shots on target in the afternoon.
The clean sheet was in jeopardy when Ryan Manning thought he equalised prior to VAR’s intervention, however a foul in the build up meant Sa kept his clean sheet.
Nelson Semedo - 7
Wolves’ October Player Of The Month impressed again in defence as well as attack.
No player dribbled past Semedo in the game, complimented by five clearances in a solid defensive display.
Santiago Bueno - 6
Bueno diverse challenges in the space of the 90 minutes, from vertically challenged but pacy Adam Armstrong, to 6ft7 Paul Onuachu.
The Uruguayan passed the test with his aerial attributes as well as his steady performance with the ball at his feet.
Craig Dawson - 7
Central striker Cameron Archer had the least touches in the game by any starter with just 12 - central defender Dawson can be thanked for that.
The central defender made the most clearances in the game with seven, and on a whole was the heartbeat of the Wolves defence as always.
Toti Gomes - 7
After not being selected for Portguals’ upcoming international matches, Toti reminded Roberto Martinez what the defender provides.
He matched Archer and Armstrong’s pace as well as Onuachu’s aerial ability to keep the visitors score at zero.
Rayan Ait-Nouri - 7
Back to his usual maverick self, Ait-Nouri recorded the most dribbles in the game with four as he left Kyle Walker-Peters tormented after 90 minutes.
The Algerian enjoyed linking up with fellow trickster Cunha as they put on a familiar duo act in parts of the game.
Mario Lemina - 6
Returning to the starting 11, Lemina showed his captain duties and steadily contributed to a successful team performance.
He provided the assist for Cunha’s stunner as the captain restored his starting spot.
Joao Gomes - 7
The Pitbull was on form again with his energy helping stunt Southampton’s creative players from any luck.
Gomes complimented his usual midfield partner well as they both faced a perky Adam Lallana in the visitors’ midfield.
Pablo Sarabia - 7
The Spaniard was dragged off at half-time after a slight knock forced his performance to deteriorate as the half went on.
He took his goal well which merits a seven.
Matheus Cunha - 9
Similar to Ait-Nouri, Cunha showed his usual self and more, he was familiarly Wolves’ catalyst in the game with contributions to both goals.
His assist was smart while his goal was individual quality in one strike.
Jorgen Strand Larsen - 6
Larsen recorded the second least touches from any starter and struggled to impact the game.
The Norwegian held the ball up well on occasions but just the one shot and 15 touches highlight the lack of influence on the game from the forward.
-
Substitutes
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde - 6
After 45 minutes, Bellegarde was able to settle in and help his side hold on to the 2-0 victory.
Despite that, the Frenchman failed to majorly impact the game but provided energy in the second half.
Goncalo Guedes - 6
Guedes was introduced with 20 minutes to play and like the rest of the substitutes provided much-needed energy to fend off any comeback.
Rodrigo Gomes - N/A
Matt Doherty - N/A
