Wolves player ratings vs Southampton as Matheus Cunha masterclass earns first win of the season

Wolverhampton Wanderers got their first Premier League win of the season at the 11th attempt on Saturday, beating fellow strugglers Southampton 2-0 at Molineux.

Goals either side of half-time from Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha pulled Gary O'Neil's side from the bottom of the table on a day in which three points were all that mattered. The home side were deserving of their victory at Molineux against a Southampton outfit who dominated possession but offered little in terms of attacking danger.

Wolves came flying out the blocks to take an early lead inside two minutes, with Sarabia latching onto Cunha’s inch-perfect through ball before rounding Aaron Ramsdale and slotting into an empty net. The Saints looked to have levelled through Ryan Manning but a VAR review disallowed his effort for a foul on Nelson Semedo in the build-up.

That allowed Wolves to go in at half-time ahead and O’Neil’s side doubled their lead inside 51 minutes, with Cunha turning from creator to finisher. The Brazilian picked up the ball around 25 yards from goal before rifling an effort into the top corner, with Southampton feeling somewhat aggrieved to not get a free-kick in the build-up.

Russell Martin made a few changes and Southampton did start to probe, albeit with little joy, but kept plenty of possession as Wolves started to drop deeper. O’Neill cut an animated figure on the touchline, trying to push his defence and midfield further forward as full-time and three points edged closer.

Cunha came off to a standing ovation from the Molineux faithful as the 90th minute ticked over, recognition for an outstanding individual performance. And Wolves were able to see out six minutes of added time with relative ease to ensure all three points remained with them. Below are your Wolves player ratings, courtesy of WhoScored.com.

Jose Sa: 6.4

Santiago Bueno: 6.7

Craig Dawson: 7.0

Toti Gomes: 7.3

Nelson Semedo: 7.3

Mario Lemina: 7.1

Joao Gomes: 6.9

Rayan Ait-Nouri (off ‘90): 7.4

Pablo Sarabia (off ‘46): 7.4

Matheus Cunha (off ‘90): 8.6

Jørgen Strand Larsen (off ‘73): 6.8

Subs

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (on ‘46’): 6.1

Goncalo Guedes (on ‘73): 6.0

Rodrigo Gomes (on ‘90): 6.0

Matt Doherty (on ‘90): 6.0