Wrexham 1-5 Southampton: Saints continue to soar towards play-off place | OneFootball

Southampton took a giant leap towards a play-off spot this evening, with an impressive 5-1 win over fellow promotion hopefuls, Wrexham.

Kuryu Matsuki opened the scoring, before being joined by four different teammates, Flynn Downes, Cyle Larin, Ross Stewart and Finn Azaz.

Josh Windass gave the hosts some hope shortly before half-time, but a poor second-half showing saw them sink rather than swim and fall out of the Championship’s top six places.

As It Happened

Phil Parkinson made two changes to his Wrexham side ahead of this vital clash, as Zak Vyner and Sam Smith were replaced by Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore. Meanwhile, Southampton manager Tonda Eckert made six changes to his starting XI, including a completely different front three from their shock win against Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday night.

After two false starts, it was Wrexham who got the game underway in North Wales. However, it was Southampton who started quicker, with Shea Charles bursting into the box before being shepherded away by Lewis O’Brien.

Somehow, the visitors didn’t take the lead eight minutes in, when headers from both Larin and Azaz struck the crossbar. They didn’t have to wait long for the opener, though, with Matsuki shimmying inside the penalty area and burying the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot after 11 minutes.

Broadhead went hunting for a leveller five minutes later, but he couldn’t get his feet sorted in time to get a shot away. The Saints doubled their advantage just moments later, however, when James Bree’s free-kick found Downes inside the penalty area, who thrashed the ball home under no pressure from the Wrexham defence.

Wrexham’s best chance thus far came to Broadhead, whose flicked header clipped the far post. Windass did pull one back for the hosts, though, after a long ball upfield was nodded down to him by Moore, before the 32-year-old’s right-footed finish found the back of the net.

Callum Doyle picked up the first yellow card of the night, following a foul on Azaz, before Windass looked to double his tally for the night shortly before half-time, but he couldn’t keep his shot down after striding past Jack Stephens.

The Saints almost extended their lead off the back of a great ball in from Ryan Manning, but nobody could get the required contact to turn it goalwards, bringing an exciting first 45 to an end in North Wales.

Wrexham won themselves an early corner after the break, but O’Brien’s ball was easily claimed by Southampton keeper Daniel Peretz. At the other end of the pitch, Athur Okonkwo was called into action, swiftly reacting to deny Larin’s close-range header, before the first Saints substitution of the night saw Samuel Edozie replaced by Leo Scienza.

Max Cleworth came close to a leveller for Wrexham minutes later, but his effort was superbly blocked by Manning. Larin finally got his goal on the hour mark, when Larin broke away from the Wrexham defence before finishing into the far corner and wheeling away to celebrate in front of the travelling fans, having extended Southampton’s lead to 3-1.

Two changes followed for the visitors, with Stewart and Wellington introduced in favour of Manning and Larin for the remaining 25 minutes. Stephens was shown a yellow card during the substitutions.

Moore struck the post from close quarters in the 71st minute, as he looked to give Wrexham a lifeline. Wellington was then shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Issa Kaboré in a wide area. The hosts then made a triple change, with Kaboré, Dobson and Broadhead making way for Matty James, Oliver Rathbone and Ryan Longman.

Azaz hit the woodwork for a second time with 15 minutes remaining, his strike from range smashing off the upright. The Irishman was then shown a yellow card minutes later for dissent.

Longman was also booked shortly after for a silly challenge on Scienza, Stewart headed home Southampton’s fourth of the night from the resulting free-kick, all but confirming a perfect night over the bridge for Eckert’s men. A moment of chaos from Okonkwo in the Wrexham goal saw Azaz add a fifth goal to Southampton’s tally, capping off a brilliant display from the midfielder after tapping into a virtually empty net.

The man who opened the scoring, Matsuki, was then withdrawn alongside Azaz in favour of Cameron Archer and Nathan Wood, to the tune of chants of “we want six” from the away end. Scienza forced a brilliant save from Okonkwo in the 90th minute with his curling effort from inside the penalty box, bringing a majestic display from the Saints to an end, and moving them into a play-off spot.