Jimenez jumps for joy after ending long wait
RAUL JIMENEZ produced a moment of magic to score his first goal since suffering a fractured skull to give Wolves victory at winless Southampton.
The Mexico striker – forced to play in protective head gear in the wake of his sickening collision with former Arsenal defender David Luiz last November – had not netted for 336 days.
But Jimenez, who has played every minute in the Premier League this season, changed all that in the 61st minute, waltzing through the Saints defence to beat Jan Bednarek twice, leave Mohammed Salisu on his backside and slot the ball past Alex McCarthy.
It came from the 30-year-old’s 15th shot of the campaign and his joy was obvious as he celebrated in front of a packed away end.
It means Wolves have won backto-back away games under boss Bruno Lage to go above struggling Southampton in the table.
‘It means a lot to Raul,’ said Lage. ‘We want to see him score goals with what happened and the long journey he’s had in his recovery.
‘But I never put pressure on him to score goals because the way I saw Raul every time in training, the way he worked for the team, the goal was only a question of time, and it has come. He created his own chances and he scored.’ The hosts came into the contest on the back of four consecutive draws, including last weekend’s point at Manchester City.
Nathan Redmond thought he had opened the scoring for Saints five minutes before the break but his turn and finish via the underside of the crossbar was ruled out.
Portuguese keeper Jose Sa was tested early in the second period, using his legs to repel a low effort from Valentino Livramento after good work from Adam Armstrong before pushing away a Mohamed Elyounoussi effort.
After Jimenez’s solo strike, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl threw on attacking trio Moussa Djenepo, Armando Broja and Shane Long in search of an equaliser.
But as they poured bodies forward, Jimenez was denied a second by McCarthy in injury-time. ‘In the last three games no goal in the Premier League shows the problems we have at the moment,’ admitted Hasenhuttl.
‘We need to learn to get more out of the situations we are sometimes in and have chances to score, or to shoot on goal.
‘The final shot, the final pass is not there at the moment, and this is what we have to work on.’