Saints took a giant leap towards Premier League safety after beating Wolves 3-1 at St Mary’s yesterday.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. It’s time to start planning for next season:
With Cardiff and Brighton both suffering defeats yesterday, Saints edged closer to securing their Premier League status for another year.
It would take an almighty collapse from here to see the St Mary’s side be relegated down to the Championship.
And bearing in mind that they still have to play already down Huddersfield at home, it’s time Saints started thinking about pre-season and their transfer strategy for the summer.
2. Nathan Redmond edges closer to double figures:
The Saints winger netter a brace to take his goal tally to eight for the season in all competitions.
Not only did his strikes come at a crucial time, but they were also both excellently taken.
His first finish came in under two minutes, with his second finding the back of the net 118 seconds after Wolves had equalised.
Redmond is continuing to improve, and under Ralph Hasehuttl’s guidance, he will only get better.
3. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s gamble paid off:
Hasenhuttl took a risk by dropping the reliable Oriol Romeu in place of Josh Sims.
However, the academy lad made an immediate impact when he assisted Redmond with the first goal.
Sims’ pace continued to cause Wolves problems at the back and his link-up play with Redmond was good throughout.
4. Shane Long scores back-to-back goals for the first time since May 2016:
It’s been quite the week for the Saints striker.
After scoring against Liverpool last Friday, Long was back on the bench for yesterday’s encounter with Wolves.
Hasenhuttl brought him on for Danny Ings in the 61st minute and he took full advantage of his time on the pitch.
He was in the right place at the right time to take the match out of Wolves’ reach with a nice finish from close range.
5. Saints were at their dynamic best:
Hasenhuttl wants his team to be able to switch formation at the drop of a hat.
Yesterday, they made themselves difficult to read by changing formation three times which left Wolves confused on how to deal with them.
This is a tribute to the work Hasenhuttl has been doing at Staplewood but his team also deserve credit for being able to implement it.
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