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7 hours ago
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Southampton continued their Championship charge as they thrashed Wrexham 5-1 to replace the Welsh side in the playoff places.
Fuelled by their stunning weekend FA Cup quarter-final triumph over Arsenal, Tonda Eckert’s in-form side flew out of the traps at Stōk Cae Ras with early goals from Kuryu Matsuki and Flynn Downes, having already hit the woodwork twice.
Wrexham pulled one back through Josh Windass but a breakaway strike from Cyle Larin and late goals from Ross Stewart and Finn Azaz secured the visitors’ fifth successive victory in all competitions. The win was also their 10th in an unbeaten sequence of 13 league games, seeing Southampton climb to sixth.
“I think the team is so focused at the very moment,” said Eckert. “My job is just to make sure that I prepare them in the best way possible for the games coming up. We play Saturday-Tuesday now until the end of the season but I think the rhythm is good. Now we need to finish off games quickly, stay humble, and always keep working.”
Southampton’s intent was evident early on as Larin and Azaz both hit the bar in the eighth minute. Larin was unlucky after meeting Ryan Manning’s cross with a deft header but Azaz should have done better than to plant the rebound against the woodwork. Azaz quickly made up for that miss as he teed up the opener on 12 minutes by threading a fine ball through to Matsuki, who took a touch before slotting a shot past a wrongfooted Arthur Okonkwo.
Southampton continued to control the game and doubled their lead 10 minutes later as Wrexham failed to clear a James Bree free-kick. The ball rolled out for Downes to thump home.
It took Wrexham more than half an hour to create a meaningful opportunity when Nathan Broadhead managed to reach a deflected cross and glance a header against a post. That rallied the crowd and, moments later, the hosts got back into the game. A long ball from Okonkwo was flicked on by Kieffer Moore and Windass produced a moment of class as he controlled and flicked past Jack Stephens to fire into the bottom corner.
Larin should have restored a two-goal cushion as he blasted over and he brought a good save out of Okonkwo from a volley early in the second half. After Max Cleworth had an effort deflected just wide for Wrexham, Larin finally got the goal he had deserved after 61 minutes as he raced clear from halfway and calmly lifted over Okonkwo.
Wrexham were not quite beaten as Moore headed against a post from close range but Azaz struck an upright at the other end moments later. Southampton underlined their superiority nine minutes from full time when Stewart headed in from a Welington free-kick and Azaz put the seal on victory two minutes later.
“We’ve got to use this as a lesson, even at this late stage of the season,” said Wrexham manager, Phil Parkinson. “If your levels drop you can get punished. We got cruelly punished in that first 20 minutes. We were nowhere near it in many aspects of the game. But there’s still all to play for. I’ll look at it closely and make sure we’re ready for the weekend.”
