Southampton entered Saturday’s matchup with Wolves desperately needing a result.

After all, the Saints were bottom of the Premier League standings, four points from the safety zone. The matchup was also crucial for Wolves as well, as the West Midlands club began the day just two points out of the bottom three.

The south coast club found themselves in a glorious position early on in the match. New signing Carlos Alcaraz put the Saints in front and Wolves went down to 10 men within a span of just three minutes.

Despite the man advantage for over an hour’s worth of game time, Southampton actually lost the game.

Wolves shocked the Saints with two second half goals to collect the three massive points. An own goal by Jan Bednarek in the 73rd minute leveled the scoreline. Then a late score by Joao Gomes sealed the deal for the visitors.

Pressure rising as Jones feels heat

As if Nathan Jones wasn’t already feeling the heat, the excruciating loss piled on the pressure for the head coach. After the match, Jones was full of emotions. “It’s a lot of emotions really, but it’s really disappointing,” the coach told Sky Sports in his post-game interview.

“To be fair, we were in total control of the game when [Wolves] had 11 men. When they went down to 10 men I was actually a little apprehensive. But I thought we controlled the game with no problems. We were front-footed, we were aggressive. We were a proper side to be honest with you.”

“Then when they went down to 10 men, no problems. Then we had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 and we didn’t. And then that seemed to galvanize them a little bit more and then they showed a little bit more quality in the final third.”

Lackluster finishing a telling story for Saints

Jones also pointed out the the fact that Southampton had 17 shots, but just two actually on target. The coach clearly wasn’t happy with the finishing touches of his players going forward.

“We have to show a little bit more quality and killer instinct,” said Jones. “We had 17 shots. When we don’t take that chance and put balls over the bar then it’s always going to be tough.”

The inexcusable loss could put pressure on Southampton officials to make yet another switch at the position. They have already made one managerial change this season when Ralph Hasenhüttl was sacked in November.

Nevertheless, Jones stated that the club has to keep fighting. “I couldn’t feel any more pressure than I have been under this week. We have to keep fighting,” explained Jones.

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