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Southampton cheekily taunt Wrexham after producing stunning late turnaround to win opener

Southampton cheekily taunt Wrexham after the Saints produce a stunning late turnaround to win their Championship opener.

Wrexham took the lead with a Josh Windass penalty after Kieffer Moore was fouled, celebrating their first second-tier goal since 1982.

Despite Wrexham’s strong first half and missed chances, Southampton equalised in the 90th minute with a stunning Ryan Manning free-kick.

Manning then set up Jack Stephens for the winning goal in the 96th minute, sparking wild celebrations at St Mary’s.

Both teams felt hard done by referee James Bell’s decisions, with contentious penalty calls and bookings adding to the match’s intensity.

After the game, Southampton tweeted in response to a tweet back by @wrexhampolicefc, who predicted Wrexham to beat Southampton.

Then the Saints simply wrote “A HOLLYWOOD FINISH 😘”, with some photos of the celebrations…

Questioned how he would summarise the events, Southampton boss Will Still said, per Daily Echo: “I think Sky did it best, to be fair. Just welcome to the Championship. It’s just crazy, isn’t it?

“I think we’re probably a bit frustrated with the way we conceded the first goal. We don’t need to lose the ball that high at the pitch on a throw.

“Then we need to deal with that transition a bit better and probably stay a bit longer on our feet and force them out of play.

“But those are things that we can work on and tweak in the future. After that, we had a period where we floated and were a bit unsure of what was going on.

“But we got back in control of it and created a few really big opportunities in the first half, where on any other day you’d probably score.

“In the second half, I thought we took control. We weren’t as threatening, but it’s tough. There’s a load of things. It’s early season, the grass is dry.

“It’s a sunny day, the ball is a bit sticky and playing against a really well-organised, low block is probably the most difficult thing to do.

“Everyone’s got to be important, everyone’s got to play a role, everyone will do that, and I think the subs today have just proved how strong our squad is.

“Credit to everyone, fair play to the players for sticking at it. It’s good to show a bit of grit and determination and to bring the energy and the place alive.

“That probably helped us somehow bundle that ball over the line at the end which is good, and having Steveo there in the 96th minute is where we want to go.

“We had to be slightly pragmatic about things today and try and force a few things to happen, and we did that. It’s a great way to start.”

On the celebration scenes: “I don’t know, I just remember Ads (Adam Lallana) running towards us and jumping on us.

“But then it’s like we’ve probably got another minute or minute and a half to play. They’re going to lump it and it’s going to go direct so we’ve got to be ready.

“But it’s special when St Mary’s is going like that and you can walk around and enjoy it. It’s a really nice feeling. We came from two goals behind last week.

“We showed a bit of passion, a bit of what it means to us. We’ve done the same thing today. It’s important for the guys to understand how good they can be.

“There’s still a bit of trauma there, but we’re working on it. Everything wasn’t perfect, we know that, but it was important to find a way to win, and we did.”

Line-ups

Southampton: Bazunu, Edwards (Stewart 80), Stephens, Quarshie, Sugawara, Downes (Archer 72), Charles, Welington (Manning 72), Fraser, Robinson, Armstrong
Subs: McCarthy, Wood, Brereton-Diaz, Matsuki

Wrexham AFC: Ward, Cleworth, Coady, Brunt, Barnett (Longman 71), Dobson, M.James, O’Brien, Cacace (McClean 84), Windass (Hardie 71), Moore (Smith 54)
Subs: Okonkwo, O’Connell, Evans, Lee, Ashfield

Referee: James Bell
Attendance: 30,970

Bookings:
Southampton:
Wrexham: Cleworth (24, foul), Phil Parkinson (31), McClean (90+1, foul)

Here’s how fans reacted as Southampton cheekily taunt Wrexham after the Saints produce a stunning late turnaround to win their league opener..

@FRead07: Not just his free kick but Manning was putting dangerous balls in as soon as he came on. Deserved that goal 🐐 #Saintsfc

@SFCforever1989: The Will Still late show!! 🙌 Great grit and determination. Baz with top save to keep us in it so fair play to him. Never gave up!! @SouthamptonFC #saintsfc

@Roro84: Let this be a lesson in being a sports fan. NEVER. LEAVE. EARLY. #saintsfc

@josh_burridge: What a Hollywood ending! #SaintsFC

@GM1872_: James McClean. Comes on at 1-0 up. Gets booked and they lose 2-1 🤣🤣 fucking superb 🇬🇧

@coplandrear4: Wrexham 1-0 up and relatively cruising it. James McClean introduced with 5 minutes to go, takes the captain’s armband, gets booked and then instrumental in leading his team to a 2-1 defeat. Great start to a Saturday 😂

@JordanWebber96: Welcome to the Championship, Wrexham.

@IvoPintoGood: 23 championship clubs loved that

@ctsmclovinya: ELITE response. On the pitch and off it 👏

@mztty: Hahahaha this is brilliant. So happy for you guys. I will support every club placing Wrexham this season. Today’s your day

@tlhsfc: Inject those Hollywood tears in my veins

@SFCTom123: Ryan Reynolds stick that on your tinpot fucking documentary UP THE BOYS #SaintsFc

@robbinho_3: Never in doubt 😅😅😅. Fair play to the lads to keep plugging away and not losing faith like I was starting to. Unbelievable free-kick from Manning. Brilliant win and so crucial to start with three points #saintsfc

@Michael_Carr1: Can’t wait to see Welcome to Wrexham with Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney with their heads in their hands cursing at the screen whilst watching on in America. Welcome to the Championship! #saintsfc

@bfgfox: WOW! 😅😅😅 Well done for turning it round lads!💪 Ryan Manning take a bow! 👏👏👏 It’s gonna be a roller-coaster so no more half-time booing! Back the f***ing team!

@Reece__03: hahahahahahaah the fairy tale story is over before it started hahaahahhaahah

@ByronSafc: James mcclean subbed in 85th minute at 1-0 up just to lose 2-1 🤣🤣🤣

@WestHam_Central: HOLLYWOOD ENDING

@BadAtGamesLuke: Stick that on your documentary twats championship welcomes you!

@ParrishJohnsto2: Pretty horrific finishing for Wrexham. Insanity to have a 36 year old Mcclean on the pitch. Going to be a brutal year.

@NeathJack1: Hollywood couldn’t write that script, eh Wrexham?

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