Saints were dealt injustice at Wolves but looked far too goal-shy

With help from VAR, they were beaten 2-0 by Wolves, winless heading into the game, and now prop up the table heading into the international break.

Ryan Manning thought he had equalised at 1-0 when he smashed home on 12 minutes, only for his first Premier League goal to be ruled out.

Upon a review, Mateus Fernandes was adjudged to have committed a foul on fellow Portuguese player Nelson Semedo.

Matheus Cunha scored an equally controversial goal just after the break to double the hosts' lead and further boil Southampton blood.

Saints players surrounded the referee after Wolves scored their second goal (Image: PA) Cameron Archer and Fernandes were both knocked off the ball in the buildup to the Brazilian's wonderful strike, however, VAR did not intervene this time around.

Joe Aribo called for consistency from the officials. "You can't give one foul without giving the other," he pleaded.

This defeat has undone all of the positivity built from back-to-back wins over Stoke City and Everton in the Carabao Cup and Premier League.

Russell Martin's future in the dugout is back at the front of everyone's mind. For all the feelings of unfairness, Saints were nowhere near good enough in the final third.

Southampton failed to have a shot on target at Molineux. Despite controlling large sections of the game and mounting 71 per cent possession, they did not ask any real questions of Jose Sa.

They did respond positively to going behind and should have been level thanks to Manning but continued to pile on the pressure in the wake of a second disappointment.

Had the Irish full-back's goal stood, the game could have played out differently. Saints would have been level and the better team.

Wolves' second goal - and Southampton's second injustice - appeared one setback too many for them to handle. A third straight win was now out of reach.

Joe Aribo called for consistent decision making from Premier League officials (Image: Southampton FC/Matt Watson) As Aribo suggested, nobody knew where the goal was going to come from. "They had belief when we were feeling disappointment," he added. 

Teams who stay up need to show a level of character and consistent output that Saints don’t appear to have. 

Current top goalscorer Cameron Archer was an isolated figure. He managed just 12 touches in 73 minutes and things did not get any better when he was replaced by Paul Onuachu.

"We needed someone to create a moment, we didn't have that today," Aribo added. "We needed to keep fighting to get back in the game.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time an opposition goalkeeper has gone largely untested this season. Saints played 60 minutes against 10-man Newcastle United without scoring.

They had just one shot in the box against Nottingham Forest at home and that resulted in a routine save for Matz Sels.

And despite a strong start against Manchester United, they failed to register another shot after Archer saw his penalty and rebound saved on 33 minutes.

Cameron Archer is Southampton's top goalscorer this season with four goals (Image: Stuart Martin) Southampton have averaged the second-fewest shots on target per match (3.1) in the Premier League this season. 

They rank 16th for touches in the opposition box (249), 20th for accurate crosses per match (2.8) and 20th for possession won in the final third per 90 (2.1).

"No other team in the bottom of the league gets to the final third as much as us, objectively as well as subjectively," Martin insisted on Saturday.

Attacking intent is not necessarily Southampton's problem. They have shown they can reach the final third semi-regularly - what they do next is the most important and disappointing part.

More often than not, Saints are short of options when they reach the crucial moment. Players are not quick enough to join the attack or do not gamble when going forward.

"At the minute the balance is the guys at the back take all the perceived risk and show all the courage," Martin explained.

"The guys at the front have to do a bit more and it's our job to free them up somehow and to give them more moments where they are one-on-one.

"We did have so many good moments in the first half and it just doesn't come to enough so I think a coach's job is to find a problem and find a solution."

Saints boss Russell Martin (Image: PA) READ MORE: Martin suggests Saints will alter focus to solve attacking problems

Southampton's problems in the final third are best demonstrated by their significant underperformance when you compare goals scored to expected goals.

Expected goal stats suggest they should have scored 12 goals, five more than they have actually managed. No team is underperforming that metric more than Saints.

Things do not get easier when league football returns after the international break. The next six games are all against teams currently in the top half of the table.