WOLVES BAG THREE POINTS AGAINST SAINTS

Wolves fans will have travelled with an expectancy of 3 points against bottom club Southampton a team with only two wins all season. Yet seasoned fans will know this is a potential banana skin. Away days at Liverpool and the like are filled with hope and a good performance and a narrow defeat does not ruin your whole week. Today’s game was entirely different and only a positive result would stave away the blues.

Victory and defeats for Leicester and Ipswich would all but seal Premier League status but a reversal of those results will put huge pressure on the games against those two teams.

Wolves started on the front foot winning the ball high up the pitch. Larsen set the tone winning his initial ariel duel and looked a threat throughout the first half. The early push creating one good crossing opportunity but after 5 minutes it was Southampton who began to dominate possession, something, despite their results, they have continued to do. Wolves were lucky when the Southampton striker completely miskicked when it was as easy to score. The game gradually deteriorated to a scrappy affair of little quality. Andre and Joao working hard to limit any progress through the middle and all 3 centre halves managing anything coming near the box.

Suddenly Bellegarde found himself in space on the right and delivered a cross into the penalty area. Larsen rose in acres of space and comfortably headed the ball into the bottom corner. Perhaps we should have given him a few more crosses in the past!

The game continued as a scrappy affair not aided by a referee who saw every contact as a foul. There was little else of note in the half with Wolves in control at the back with Southampton limited to long throws and corners, failing to register a shot on target. With so little attacking threat Wolves barely deserved to be ahead at the break.

Nevertheless a pleasing score at half time with the feeling that Wolves could play better in the second half with the platform of a goal advantage. 

Almost immediately Agbadou commandly won his header finding Munetsi who released Bellegarde to set up Larsen. A simple move of the ball onto his right foot and he calmly pulled it back across the keeper into the left hand corner, 

Following the goal Southampton pressed hard but with little guile and again chances were very limited, with one header from a corner going over the bar when it should have been on target. Throughout Wolves looked more likely to score on the break and several good opportunities were created and Joao will be have been disappointed not to have at least hit the target following one such break.  Wolves continued to battle with great heart and played some very neat football through midfield but the lack of clinical finishing always felt like it might kick us in the teeth. The very talented Tyler Dibbly eventually wriggled towards the box and his shot bounced off the post to land kindly at the feet of a Southampton player who had no problem in accepting the gift. Surely there will be a lot of interest from Premier clubs for Dibbly who will be too good for the Championship.

We might be 4^th bottom but there is a difference in quality in our favour over Southampton, they are on 9 points for a reason. The Wolves performance was efficient and got the job done, 3 points and an Ipswich defeat means we are edging close to a less stressful end to the season, surely we have the quality to ensure this happens.