Southampton 0 Wolves 2 – Report and pictures

Both teams wasted great chances in the first half with Nouha Dicko and Dusan Tadic missing the target from close range.

Goalkeeper Will Norris also made a flying save to deny Maya Yoshida in what was an entertaining contest.

Batth gave Wolves a deserved lead halfway through the second period when he headed home Ivan Cavaleiro's corner.

Michal Zyro made his comeback from the bench after 16 months out and he set up the goal that sealed it when Wilson, just two minutes after coming on, beat Fraser Forster.

Analysis

And this was Wolves' second team....

They say football's a squad game – well Wolves' looks pretty darn good at the moment, writes Tim Spiers at St Mary's.

Wolves just don't do League/EFL/Milk/Carabao Cup wins. They certainly don't do them against teams in a higher division than them, with Premier League Coventry City (ask your parents, kids) their last victims some 22 years ago.

Wolves reached the quarter finals that year and have got nowhere near ever since.

Well life feels pretty different under Nuno Espirito Santo. The whole club has been revitalised in a very short space of time...witness the 1,500 who made the six-hour round trip to watch what they knew would be a second string side.

Saints fielded a number of international players and several first-teamers. But Wolves deserved beat them. They also, in spells, played the better football in what was certainly no smash-and-grab.

The Championship may be the very clear priority but if Wolves can put out a 'reserve' side and still beat Premier League opposition, long may their run continue.

Match report

Nuno sprang a big surprise with his line-up, handing Ben Marshall a start after six weeks out with a hip injury.

Ivan Cavaleiro made his first start of the season, while French defender Sylvain Deslandes came in for his first senior appearance since April 2016.

Also back for the first time since April 2016 was Michal Zyro, who was named on the bench along with a host of under-23 youngsters.

Southampton selected a strong-looking XI which included England international keeper Fraser Forster, former Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu, playmaker Dusan Tadic and prolific striker Charlie Austin.

Wolves, backed by an impressive away following of 1,500 fans, may have had the far weaker team on paper but they started like a house on fire – and could have been 3-0 up inside 10 minutes.

All three chances fell to Nouha Dicko in a remarkable 90-second blitz and he should certainly have scored two of them.

First Jack Price sent him clear of the Saints defence with a lofted through ball, but the striker couldn't control the ball. Then the impressive Ruben Vinagre played to Dicko who saw his shot from a tight angle saved by Fraser Forster. And then Cavaleiro tenaciously won the ball off Jeremy Pied in the box and squared to Dicko who scuffed his effort from a few yards out in what was a glorious opportunity spurned.

Wolves have made a great start in possession with Cavaleiro and Vinagre combining nicely and Price looking to dictate play.

But the hosts soon came into in and created a number of chances of their own before half time, mostly from set pieces as Wolves' zonal marking came unstuck yet again.

Maya Yoshida sent a free header wide from a corner, then fellow defender Jan Bednarek headed straight at Will Norris, again unchallenged. From the third free attempt Norris was forced to pull off a stupendous reaction stop at full stretch from another Yoshida header.

Tadic wasted a chance as glaring as Dicko's when he fired wide from six yards after Danny Batth failed to clear, with the Saints edging an entertaining first half but failing to break the deadlock.

Mauricio Pellegrino's side matched Wolves with a three-at-the-back system which in particular lessened the attacking forays of Jordan Graham. Cavaleiro was Wolves' dangerman and Vinagre was lively behind him, teeing up Dicko for a half chance just before the break when the striker yet again peeled off his man but fired into the side netting.

Connor Ronan replaced a rusty Marshall at half time and the young Irishman made a sprightly start to the half, as did Graham who essentially became a winger and caused havoc with a series of crosses on the overlap, while Ronan added some much-needed creativity but also some tenacity in midfield by winning the ball back on a number of occasions.

For the first 20 minutes of the half Wolves were the superior side, producing some excellent passing play with an admirably unswerving refusal to lump it long whatever the circumstance.

The game looked there for the taking – and on 67 minutes Batth took it. The captain rose highest to meet an inswinging corner and head past Forster, sparking wild scenes in the away end behind that goal.

Wolves have fully merited the lead for an impressive, controlling second half display. Saints reacted by sending on attacking trio Nathan Redmond, Shane Long and Manolo Gabbiadini at an increasingly anxious St Mary's, while Zyro made his long-awaited comeback when he replaced Dicko and was promptly booked inside 30 seconds after an adrenalin-heavy late tackle.

And thereafter they were comfortable. Despite the Southampton changes Norris had very little too, with a deep-lying light blue wall stopping them in their tracks at almost every opportunity.

Then, just two minutes after coming on, Donovan Wilson became the second academy graduate to score on the night, taking a Zyro pass and beating Forster to put the icing on the cake for Nuno's team.

Key moments

7 – Price nearly plays Dicko in on goal but the striker mis-controls the ball.

8 – Cavaleiro wins the ball back high up, squares to Dicko but he scuffs a golden opportunity wide.

39 – Norris pulls off a stunning reflex save to deny a goalbound Yoshida header.

40 – Tadic somehow fires wide from a great position a few yards out.

67 – GOAL – Danny Batth rises highest to head home Cavaleiro's inswinging left-wing corner.

87 – GOAL – Zyro tees up Donovan Wilson who takes a touch and clips it over the keeper.

Line ups

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster; Pied, Bednarek (Redmond, 73), Yoshida, McQueen; Romeu, Stephens; Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Boufal (Gabbiadini, 76); Austin (Long, 76). Subs: McCarthy, Cedric, Bertrand, Davis.

Wolves (3-4-3): Norris; Bennett, Batth, Deslandes; Graham, Price, Edwards, Vinagre; Marshall (Ronan, 45), Dicko (Zyro, 75), Cavaleiro (Wilson, 85). Subs: Burgoyne, Johnson, Goncalves, Armstrong.

Goals: Batth (67), Wilson (87)

Attendance: sdf

Referee: James Linington (Newport)