THE flesh might be weak but the spirit is still very much willing for Wolves’ marathon men.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s players looked dead on their feet as they trooped in two goals down at half-time.
Raul Jimenez’s brace sealed victory for WolvesCredit: Reuters
Shane Long had put the Saints into a commanding positionCredit: Reuters
Yet somehow they found the physical reserves to conjure up a dramatic late comeback to snatch a memorable victory.
This was their 39th match of a gruelling campaign which started in the Europa League qualifiers way back in July.
That is 12 games more than sprightly Saints have had to contend with… and boy, boy, did it show at times.
No fewer than six of this Wolves team have played in every Premier League fixture and Nuno’s lack of options is beginning to take its toll.
So only the most curmudgeonly of Southampton supporters could begrudge VAR’s failure to pick up Adama Traore’s handball in the build-up to Raul Jimenez’s 76th minute winner.
Traore clearly used a muscular arm to control Pedro Neto’s pass before teeing up Jimenez for his 19th goal of the season.
But VAR observer Craig Pawson didn’t appear to look at the build-up in his review before giving rookie ref Darren England the all-clear to award the goal.
Nuno said: “I’m very proud of my team because we could have abandoned this game after the first-half but we didn’t do that so credit to the boys for that.
Pedro Neto got his side back into the gameCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“We know the schedule has been very demanding but the work-rate and standard was always there and our spirit was very good.
“Southampton were much better than us in the first-half and we conceded a goal from the first set-piece we faced.
“We said a lot of things at half-time and we made some adjustments. We are embracing the challenge and we love to keep competing.”
Quite where Nuno’s foot soldiers are getting their energy from is a mystery which left stunned Saints boss Ralph Hassenhutl scratching his head.
This time last month his team were stuck in the relegation zone while Wolves were pressing for the top six.
But the victory which seemed certain for Saints at the interval would have taken them level on points with their flagging opponents.
Instead they had to listen to the taunts of the jubilant Wolves fans chanting “2-0 and you f***** it up,” at the end of this remarkable game.
And they could not really argue with that assessment after racing into a 2-0 lead with goals from Jan Bednarek and Shane Long.
Jimenez converted from the penalty spot to equaliseCredit: Reuters
Polish centre-half Bednarek had only scored once before in three years in England yet still conjured up an impressive volley to send James Ward-Prowse’s 15th minute free-kick into the top corner.
And when the lively Long got ahead of Leander Dendoncker to glance home from Cedric’s 35th minute cross, Saints were eyeing up the top half of the table for the first time all season.
Absolutely nobody at St.Mary’s could have seen what was coming until Neto was given far too much time to turn onto Traore’s 53rd minute cross and score from close range.
Long grazed a post and Ryan Bertrand clipped the top of the bar as Southampton tried to regain the initiative, but they were undone again by Jack Stephens’ rash challenge on Jonny Otto.
English, taking charge of his first Premier League game, initially awarded a corner but was told by Stockley Park to point to the penalty spot for Jimenez to level.
Hasenhuttl complained: “I’m a big fan of VAR but the referee has to take the final decision and he should now allow himself to be overruled by someone outside the stadium.
“I asked him why he did not look at the screen but he said he can only do that to look for a red card.
“We were told that a decision could only be overruled if it is clearly wrong and this wasn’t.”
But if that VAR decision seemed to take an eternity, the next review took just seconds before Jimenez’s winner received the green light.
And a disappointed Hasenhuttl conceded: “We didn’t deserve anything because we didn’t play well enough in the second-half.
“We should have had more energy than them because they have played a lot more games than us.”
Nuno Espirito Santo has a go at reporter after misunderstanding a question post Man Utd v Wolves
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
