Wolves fight back to down Southampton despite early Lemina red
Before today, Nathan Jones had won just one Premier League game since taking over the Saints in November and his side played like a team that were out to change that record today.
Dominating for the majority of the first half, the home side were in full control of possession. Romain Perraud came close but his effort was blocked by Craig Dawson but Wolves’ resolve was finally broken midway through the half through Carlos Alcaraz.
The ball fell to the Argentine on the edge of the box and after his initial volley was blocked, he had a second go and this time his driven effort smashed in off the post.
A disappointing half for the visitors went from bad to worse just minutes later as ex-Saints player Mario Lemina was sent off for a second yellow card, with his second being for aggressively running towards the referee, which had the Wolves players incensed.
With the one-man and goal advantage, the Saints kept control of the match in the early parts of the second half as the visitors struggled to impose themselves.
Kamaldeen Sulemana almost wrapped up the victory and ease any tensions but his one-on-one effort was brilliantly palmed away by José Sá.
Wolves had their best spell of the afternoon in the final 30 minutes, and they made the home side pay for their wastefulness in front of goal. An equaliser came in fortuitous circumstances, as Diego Costa’s shot was blocked and then the ball fell to Adama Traoré, who fired the ball goalwards and was deflected in by Jan Bednarek for an own-goal.
The leveller turned the tide of the game as Wolves seemed like they had the man advantage, and with their tails up they almost took the lead but Pablo Sarabia couldn’t fire the ball in whilst on the stretch.
Just as it looked like the points would be shared, Wolves’ January signing João Gomes popped up with a late winner to break Southampton hearts.
Victory for Wolves sends them up into 15th place and five points above the relegation places, whilst the Saints remain bottom, four points from safety.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Craig Dawson (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
