Second-half goals from Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong earned Southampton a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday and a place in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
The victory lifted Southampton after four successive Premier League defeats, Ings firing it ahead in the 50th minute with a freakish goal after it dominated the first half.
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Wolves goalkeeper John Ruddy saved the striker’s close-range shot from a tight angle but the ball ricocheted off Ings and trickled over the line. The goal was initially ruled out for offside but awarded after a VAR check.
Armstrong sealed Southampton’s win in the 90th minute with a clinical finish in off the far post as he took advantage of a catalogue of errors and side-footed the ball past three defenders and the stranded Ruddy.
'Important to win'
Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said reaching the FA Cup last eight, where it faces a trip to south coast neighbour Bournemouth, was a welcome lift for his team. “We haven’t had an easy time in the last few weeks so it’s important to win,” the Austrian told BT Sport .
“In the end we deserved to win. It’s not easy to create chances against Wolves, we had the better ones and we never stopped believing. This time we had luck with the VAR for the first time in a long time.”
Southampton missed chances to win by a bigger margin, with Armstrong shooting wide of a gaping goal from five metres and Ruddy denying Nathan Redmond with a reflex save after the forward’s jinking run.
Fabio Silva fired over the bar at the other end before visiting keeper Fraser Foster pulled off a superb save with his feet to deny Adama Traore, but the Wolves lacked cutting edge and their late pressure proved in vain.
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