Southampton, who sit 15th, will be aggrieved they missed out on a point, though, having more than held their own in a game which looked destined to end goalless.

Alex McCarthy saved well from Otto and Raul Jimenez while Rui Patricio denied Southampton's Mohamed Elyounoussi and Stuart Armstrong.

It was hardly a classic performance from Wolves but the late strikes continued their fine return to the top flight with Nuno Espirito Santo's side having lost just once.

The hosts – unchanged for the seventh straight game – began strongly and McCarthy's fine save beat away Jonny well-struck ninth-minute effort.

But, as they have found this season after scoring just six in their opening six games, Wolves had nothing to show for their early dominance.

The Saints offered no threat and survived a let-off after 22 minutes when Ryan Bennett headed Joao Moutinho's corner straight at McCarthy.

Yet the visitors began to settle and, after Danny Ings had missed connecting with Charlie Austin's drive, Elyounoussi forced Patricio into a smothering stop.

Ings' pot-shot deflected wide with Southampton comfortable but McCarthy still had to be alert to save from a smart Jimenez flick six minutes before the break.

The Saints, winless at Wolves since a 6-0 triumph in 2007, had Molineux restless and Conor Coady escaped after a slip nearly let Ings through immediately after the re-start.

Boss Nuno responded by replacing Helder Costa with Adama Traore but it did little to sharpen Wolves' sharpen blunt attack.

Nathan Redmond became increasingly influential for the visitors and Patricio had to gather Jannik Vestergaard's free-kick at the second attempt.

A breakthrough for either side seemed unlikely before Cavaleiro climbed off the bench to open the scoring with 11 minutes left.

The forward had been on the pitch less than two minutes but collected a Jimenez lay-off, after good work from Traore, to smash high past McCarthy from 16 yards.

McCarthy's brilliant save stopped Jimenez's header making it 2-0 and the striker fired over soon after.

But Otto secured the victory with three minutes remaining when he fired in under McCarthy following Matt Doherty's cut-back.

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