Here is Peter Lansley’s match report from Molineux:
Thanks for your company, and see you all soon! The quarter-final draw is coming up shortly, before the Barnsley-Chelsea game, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Hasenhuttl is talking now: “A good performance today. We had a good side on the pitch and the guys did a good job. It’s always tight against Wolves because they don’t give you a lot of chances, but we tried to be patient and find gaps to play through, and the longer the game went on the more chances we had.”
Ben Fisher has Barnsley v Chelsea, which starts soonish, for you:
Could be a big moment in Saints’ season if that clears their heads. Will Wolves regret not going as strong as they did? Or will Nuno have the last laugh, in the league at least, when they meet again roughly 67 hours from now? Hasenhuttl appears to have put the cup first and foremost, so will just be happy to have got this one done.
Ings speaks: “To see that I was onside [for the goal] was great. I wouldn’t say our mood has dipped, the lads have worked hard every day, this has been our moment of bad form. It’s a quick turnaround so we’ve got to recover well now and look forward to the weekend.”
Full-time: Wolves 0-2 Southampton
Saints go marching into the last eight!
90+4 min: Moutinho clips the lively Tella and Moss gives a penalty ... but VAR correctly finds that it happened just outside the box and the score won’t be added to.
90+3 min: Traore is booked for a foul. Wolves’ goose is cooked.
Goal! Wolves 0-2 Southampton (Armstrong, 90)
Armstrong has been my man of the match so deserves this game clincher. Ruddy is dealt an awkward backpass by Dendoncker and Tella mugs him near the byline, ultimately laying back for Armstrong to place a *perfect* finish past defenders on the line and off the post.
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89 min: Oh, that’s poor though. Straight into the wall from Neves, who has buried those before.
88 min: Here’s a chance in perfect Neves territory. Romeu hacks down Neto and is booked. It’s 25 yards out, a touch to the left and could not really be in a better spot for Neves ...
87 min: Nathan Tella comes on for Saints now, replacing Djenepo. It’s all got a bit niggly and scrappy over the last few minutes, which will suit the away side massively.
85 min: Bertrand is taking treatment ... did Traore accidentally stand on his finger a few moments ago? He’ll get up and carry on but that would have been pretty painful.
83 min: Saints make their first change, Adams on for the probable matchwinner Ings
81 min: Salisu slices a clearance over the top this time. He’s been hit and miss tonight, but he’ll surely improve. The corner is dealt with.
79 min: Forster, hitherto not busy, saves superbly from Traore on the line after Salisu completely misses a Neto cross from the left. The keeper got across quickly to shovel the ball wide with his legs. It’s Wolves’ first attempt on target, and so close to being a leveller!
77 min: Now Kilman is back smartly to stop the ever-involved Armstrong getting a shot off from an angle.
75 min: Bertrand gives the ball away and this time it’s Salisu bailing out an error, stopping Jose from streaking into the box.
73 min: Saints blocks a Redmond cross with Ings open in the box, so it’s another corner. It’s a great delivery from Ward-Prowse, as usual, and the ball bobbles around near Kilman but the visitors won’t get the handball decision they half-heartedly appeal for.
72 min: Wolves are certainly tooled up to give this a proper go in the latter stages now, but the ball is spending a lot of time in their half at the moment.
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69 min: Wolves defend two subsequent Saints corners. They live to fight another day. And now another big gun comes on – Pedro Neto for Vitinha.
68 min: Huge save from Ruddy! A wonderful, weaving run and pass from – I think – Armstrong puts Redmond through and he springs the offside trap, working the ball onto his left foot. But Ruddy stands firm and blocks with what appeared to be his hip! That would have been curtains for Wolves.
67 min: A lull here. Ralph Hasenhuttl and Saints are three-quarters of the way to a welcome upturn.
64 min: Wolves earn a corner, but we’ll see two changes first. Traore is on for Gibbs-White; Willian Jose comes on up top for Silva. And now for that set-piece ... which Saiss bullets miles wide.
62 min: Ings spins and wraps his foot around a 20-yarder, but Ruddy saves comfortable.
59 min: Gibbs-White is booked for a dive, which was right in front of Moss’s eyes.
58 min: “The Ings goal sounds very like the one scored by John Mitchell for Fulham in the semi-final replay against Birmingham in 1975 – but that only crossed the line because of the Fulham supporters behind the goal sucking it in. How did this one manage to go in with no supporters there?” asks Richard Hirst.
Who needs matchgoing fans when we have VAR!!
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55 min: Better from Salisu there, reacting well to block a Gibbs-White effort in the area. Wolves have responded quite well to the goal.
54 min: Silva flashes Wolves’ best chance over, now, after Salisu gets in a mess playing out and Hoever nips in to cross. Salisu isn’t quite up to the pace yet.
53 min: Walker-Peters is booked for clattering Silva. Can Wolves recover before Nuno needs to haul the likes of Traore off the bench? It’s a free-kick 35 yards out ands to the left ... and there’s eventually an offside.
Goal! Wolves 0-1 Southampton (Ings, 49)
It’s given after the review! Kilman was playing him on. Ings ran onto Bertrand’s pass and, while the finish itself was very untidy, he’ll take it. Saints deserve it too.
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50 min: And now Ings has a goal ruled out for a *very* tight offside, Ruddy saving his first effort before the ball rebounds back off him and trickles in. VAR check ahoy ...
49 min: Ohhhh, that was notable though – Armstrong has to score! Bertrand centres perfectly for the onrushing Armstrong, seven yards out, but the midfielder opens his foot up too much and places the ball wide. That was by miles the best chance we’ve seen.
48 min: Saints hog the early ball in this half, but we await any manoeuvres of note.
Peeeeep! Second half begins!
We’re going to get GOALS. We are!
Jonny, still coming back from long-term injury, got another 45 minutes under his belt there but is now replaced by Ait-Nouri in what was presumably a pre-planned swap.
Nearly back for the second half. Meanwhile in Doha, Bayern and Tigres are still tied.
Half-time reading – today’s Fiver!
Half-time: Wolves 0-0 Southampton
Ings jabs a Bertrand cross well wide at the near post and that, my friends, is the half. Are you still awake? It’s not been that bad, but then I did Man Utd v West Ham too so my standards are rock bottom. But it could do with being better. Saints had a bright first 25 minutes before Wolves sorted things out a bit. But nobody has set the pulse racing yet.
44 min: Wolves are looking for Hoever in space down the right pretty often, and he is fouled about 45 yards from goal. Moutinho will aim for the cavalry in the box ... and a probably offside Saiss larrups a rather strange volley almost vertically. It sails over.
41 min: Possibly the best chance so far, a Bertrand cross beating everyone and finding Redmond at the far post. But it comes to him quickly and bounces awkwardly, so he can’t really make a level of contact that would trouble Ruddy.
40 min: Wolves do seem to have got a bit of a grip on things here. The pace of the game isn’t bad, it’s just nobody is really creating a lot.
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38 min: Salisu fouls Silva on the left, 40 yards out, and maybe Wolves can put a good ball in the box. Moutinho swings it in ... but it is cleared well.
36 min: And now Ward-Prowse bashes Vitinha on the foot, although in that case the tackle seemed fair. Vitinha rolls around a bit, but he’ll be just fine.
35 min: Silva is the latest Wolves player to take a painful whack, Ward-Prowse catching him late on the shin.
32 min: Saints currently lead 7-0 on the shot count, but just the two fairly tame efforts on target.
30 min: Gibbs-White nips in ahead of a slightly hesitant Salisu in the box and goes over ... but nothing doing according to Jon Moss. Salisu probably just about got purchase on the ball, but we have a VAR check ... which vindicates the ref’s decision. A bit of a wake-up call for the new man though.
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27 min: Southampton continue to dominate but still we await the moment that opens Wolves up. That’ll please Nuno, who’s needed his defence to rediscover its old meanness.
25 min: Yep, Vitinha is alright, which is good news.
23 min: Now Vitinha is down and he needs treatment – I think he tried to block that Djenepo shot and saw the winger’s elbow knock the side of his head in the follow-through. I think he’ll be OK but the medics rightly need to take their time and make sure.
21 min: Fine Saints interplay ends with Djenepo not quite getting hold of of an effort from 18 yards, the ball bobbling up to Ruddy. Saints are the better side here without *quite* managing to turn that into a really threatening effort on goal.
19 min: Armstrong leads a counter before laying in Redmond, who tries to play Ings through but sees a defender nip in. Then Armstrong sees another effort deflect wide. Ward-Prowse’s corner is well short of his usual standards.
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17 min: Moutinho is down after Bednarek barges him in the back. I think he’ll soldier on.
14 min: Salisu, the debutant, heads away a Gibbs-White cross after decent work from Neves and Hoever. Then Hoever aims a cross in for Silva, but Bednarek intervenes. Better from the hosts.
12 min: Saiss again is sharp to block Ings’ attempt to slide home a Redmond pass. Wolves try to break but are struggling to get much going just now. Southampton’s tempo is something of a piece with their old selves.
9 min: Ings takes the ball down *exquisitely* in the box in mid-air and is in, but Saiss gets across to block bravely. A fourth Saints corner is then defended. The visitors, at fuller strength perhaps, are making all the early running.
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7 min: It’s another corner for the visitors though, and it’s half-cleared to Bertrand ... who swings and misses his kick from 12 yards! A subsequent Armstrong drive is blocked for a third corner, and Ruddy gets lucky here – it’s played to Armstrong, who shoots again and sees it fumbled by the keeper. Ruddy just dives upon it before Ings can pounce.
5 min: Saints show first, with a left-sided corner after bright work from Redmond. There is some jostling in the box so Romeu gets a talking to. Then it’s finally taken but Ruddy bats Ward-Prowse’s inswinger away.
3 min: We await some action. On paper you’d fancy, or fear, extra time in this one. Am I being a cynic?
Peeeeep! We are underway
The Saints, garbed in all white, kick us off and go left to right.
I do like Molineux. A proper old city-centre arena. I’ve covered a few games there in the Covid times and you really do feel the absence of fans all the more at stadiums like that one.
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The players will shortly be striding out at Molineux ... let’s hope it’s shackles off and an early evening show for all of us. Don’t forget Barnsley host Chelsea after this one!
Nuno on v unusual appearance as a sub for Conor Coady: “It’s going to be good for him and for us. It’s the right moment for him not to play” #wwfc #saintsfc
— Jacqui Oatley (@JacquiOatley) February 11, 2021
Fair to say Nuno is prioritising the league game even though Wolves are 12 points clear of the drop and 12 points off sixth place.
More fun while-u-wait – today’s Football Weekly Extraaaaaaaa!
If you want something more exotic than – or with – this, Scott Murray has the Club World Cup final for you:
For Wolves, a bit of a perk-up recently after some grim form – they beat Arsenal, albeit a touch fortunately, last week and then held Leicester. They’ll need to be on better form today than when they squeezed past little Chorley in the last round though.
I wonder if there’s just a little extra something on this game for Southampton. They have lost four in a row and the third of those, of course, was the 9-0 shellacking at Old Trafford. Any kind of win at a tough venue like this could transform everything, restore them to their bright & breezy best and leave them feeling good about themselves again.
Teams
Here's how Wolves line-up for this evening's fifth round @EmiratesFACup fixture against @SouthamptonFC. #WOLSOU
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 11, 2021
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/mNWoGm1AJt
Six changes for Wolves from the goalless draw with Leicester.
🔙 @KWPeters returns
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 11, 2021
🆕 Salisu debut incoming
🙌 Forster between the sticks
Tonight's #SaintsFC team to face #Wolves: pic.twitter.com/miI4otTJpe
Saints go strong again for the cup and there’s a debut for the promising Ghanaian defender, Mohammed Salisu.
Hello friends
More FA Cup fifth round action! And what do we have here – Man Utd v West Ham, Everton v Spurs or something very much inbetween?
Let’s hope entertainment levels are closer to the latter. Both Wolves and Saints, mid-table in the league and feeling a little bit less perky than their best selves, may as well give the cup a decent shot – until Man City storm in and blow everyone away, anyhow. Not much need for caginess at Molineux, so let’s hope they go for it.
Unless they fancy a bit of shadow boxing, of course, because they meet at St Mary’s on Sunday. Saints had a similar situation when they faced Arsenal in the last round, winning in the cup before getting turned over in the league. Once bitten, twice shy?
We will soon find out – stay with us ahead of kick-off, and get your tweets and emails in as ever!
